Long‐term stock grazing management in Travelling Stock Reserves and influence on conservation values

We examined the nature of long‐term grazing management implemented in 51 Travelling Stock Reserves (TSRs) in the Albury region, and investigated potential relationships between grazing intensity and conservation values. In general, grazing intensities in most TSRs decreased over the 22 year study period. Most TSRs were lightly grazed (density = 1.1 DSE/ha/year), and stocked for <2 months per year, but some were much more heavily grazed. Spring grazing intensity was found to be negatively associated with TSR conservation values. Our results suggest that grazing management aims to achieve both production and conservation outcomes are not necessarily exclusive to each other.     

Controls on carbon consumption during Alaskan wildland fires

A method was developed to estimate carbon consumed during wildland fires in interior Alaska based on medium‐spatial scale data (60 m cell size) generated on a daily basis. Carbon consumption estimates were developed for 41 fire events in the large fire year of 2004 and 34 fire events from the small fire years of 2006–2008. Total carbon consumed during the large fire year (2.72 × 10⁶ ha burned) was 64.7 Tg C, and the average carbon consumption during the small fire years (0.09 × 10⁶ ha burned) was 1.3 Tg C. Uncertainties for the annual carbon emissions ranged from 13% to 21%. Carbon consumed from burning of black spruce forests represented 76% of the total during large fire years and 57% during small fire years. This was the result of the widespread distribution of black spruce forests across the landscape and the deep burning of the surface organic layers common to these ecosystems. Average carbon consumed was 3.01 kg m^?2 during the large fire year and 1.69 kg m^?2 during the small fire years. Most of the carbon consumption was from burning of ground layer fuels (85% in the large fire year and 78% in small fire years). Most of the difference in average carbon consumption between large and small fire years was in the consumption of ground layer fuels (2.60 vs. 1.31 kg m^?2 during large and small fire years, respectively). There was great variation in average fuel consumption between individual fire events (0.56–5.06 kg m^?2) controlled by variations in fuel types and topography, timing of the fires during the fire season, and variations in fuel moisture at the time of burning.     

Precipitation variability and fire influence the temporal dynamics of soil CO2 efflux in an arid grassland

Climate models suggest that extreme rainfall events will become more common with increased atmospheric warming. Consequently, changes in the size and frequency of rainfall will influence biophysical drivers that regulate the strength and timing of soil CO₂ efflux – a major source of terrestrial carbon flux. We used a rainfall manipulation experiment during the summer monsoon season (July–September) to vary both the size and frequency of precipitation in an arid grassland 2 years before and 2 years after a lightning‐caused wildfire. Soil CO₂ efflux rates were always higher under increased rainfall event size than under increased rainfall event frequency, or ambient precipitation. Although fire reduced soil CO₂ efflux rates by nearly 70%, the overall responses to rainfall variability were consistent before and after the fire. The overall sensitivity of soil CO₂ efflux to temperature (Q₁₀) converged to 1.4, but this value differed somewhat among treatments especially before the fire. Changes in rainfall patterns resulted in differences in the periodicity of soil CO₂ efflux with strong signals at 1, 8, and 30 days. Increased rainfall event size enhanced the synchrony between photosynthetically active radiation and soil CO₂ efflux over the growing season before and after fire, suggesting a change in the temporal availability of substrate pools that regulate the temporal dynamics and magnitude of soil CO₂ efflux. We conclude that arid grasslands are capable of rapidly increasing and maintaining high soil CO₂ efflux rates in response to increased rainfall event size more than increased rainfall event frequency both before and after a fire. Therefore, the amount and pattern of multiple rain pulses over the growing season are crucial for understanding CO₂ dynamics in burned and unburned water‐limited ecosystems.     

Periodic patterns in distributions of peptide masses

We are investigating the distribution of the number of peptides for given masses, and especially the observation that peptide density reaches a local maximum approximately every 14Da. This wave pattern exists across species (e.g. human or yeast) and enzyme digestion techniques. To analyze this phenomenon we have developed a mathematical method for computing the mass distributions of peptides, and we present both theoretical and empirical evidence that this 14-Da periodicity does not arise from species selection of peptides but from the number- theoretic properties of the masses of amino acid residues. We also describe other, more subtle periodic patterns in the distribution of peptide masses. We also show that these periodic patterns are robust under a variety of conditions, including the addition of amino acid modifications and selection of mass accuracy scale. The method used here is also applicable to any family of sequential molecules, such as linear hydrocarbons, RNA, single- and double-stranded DNA.     

How the timberline formed: altitudinal changes in stand structure and dynamics around the timberline in central Japan

Background and Aims

Altitudinal timberlines are thought to move upward by global warming, a crucial topic in ecology. Tall tree species (the conifer Abies mariesii and the deciduous broad-leaved Betula ermanii) dominate the sub-alpine zone between 1600 and 2500 m a.s.l., the timberline, on Mount Norikura in central Japan. Dwarf pine Pinus pumila dominates above the timberline to near the summit (3026 m a.s.l.). This study evaluated how the timberline formed on Mount Norikura by examining altitudinal changes in stand structure and dynamics around the timberline.

Methods

One hundred and twenty-five plots of 10 m × 10 m were established around the timberline (2350–2600 m a.s.l.). Trunk diameter growth rate during 6 years was examined for A. mariesii, B. ermanii and P. pumila. Mortality during this period and mechanical damage scars on the trunks and branches due to strong wind and snow were examined for A. mariesii only.

Key Results

The density, maximum trunk height and diameter of A. mariesii in plots decreased with altitude. The maximum trunk height of B. ermanii decreased with altitude, but density and maximum trunk diameter did not decrease. In contrast, the density of P. pumila abruptly increased from around the timberline. A strong negative correlation was found between the densities of P. pumila and tall tree species, indicating their interspecific competition. Trunk diameter growth rates of A. mariesii and B. ermanii did not decrease with altitude, suggesting that these two tall tree species can grow at the timberline. The ratio of trees with mechanical damage scars increased with altitude for A. mariesii, a tendency more conspicuous for larger trees. The mortality of larger A. mariesii was also greater at higher altitude. Tall tree species may not increase their trunk height and survive around the timberline because of mechanical damage.

Conclusions

This study suggests that the altitudinal location of the timberline is mainly affected by mechanical damage due to strong wind and snow rather than by growth limitation due to low temperature. Therefore, the timberline would not move upward even under global warming if these growth and mortality characteristics do not change for a long time.     

Vegetation Recovery 16 Years after Feral Pig Removal from a Wet Hawaiian Forest

Nonnative ungulates can alter the structure and function of forest ecosystems. Feral pigs in particular pose a substantial threat to native plant communities throughout their global range. Hawaiian forests are exceptionally vulnerable to feral pig activity because native vegetation evolved in the absence of large mammalian herbivores. A common approach for conserving and restoring forests in Hawaii is fencing and removal of feral pigs. The extent of native plant community recovery and nonnative plant invasion following pig removal, however, is largely unknown. Our objective was to quantify changes in native and nonnative understory vegetation over a 16 yr period in adjacent fenced (pig‐free) vs. unfenced (pig‐present) Hawaiian montane wet forest. Native and nonnative understory vegetation responded strongly to feral pig removal. Density of native woody plants rooted in mineral soil increased sixfold in pig‐free sites over 16 yr, whereas establishment was almost exclusively restricted to epiphytes in pig‐present sites. Stem density of young tree ferns increased significantly (51.2%) in pig‐free, but not pig‐present sites. Herbaceous cover decreased over time in pig‐present sites (67.9%). In both treatments, number of species remained constant and native woody plant establishment was limited to commonly occurring species. The nonnative invasive shrub, Psidium cattleianum, responded positively to release from pig disturbance with a fivefold increase in density in pig‐free sites. These results suggest that while common native understory plants recover within 16 yr of pig removal, control of nonnative plants and outplanting of rarer native species are necessary components of sustainable conservation and restoration efforts in these forests.     

Individual and combined effects of fish predation and bed disturbance on stream benthic communities: a streamside channel experiment

1. The composition and spatiotemporal dynamics of biological communities are influenced by biotic processes, such as predation and competition, but also by physical disturbances, such as floods in running waters. However, the interplay of disturbance with predation is still poorly understood, especially in frequently disturbed streams. Further, different predator species can affect prey communities in different ways depending on their feeding mode and efficiency. 2. We investigated the individual and combined effects of flood‐induced bed disturbance and fish predation on the benthos for 4 weeks in 18 streamside channels fed by a flood‐prone New Zealand river. Bed movements caused by floods were simulated by tumbling the substratum in half the channels. Six channels each were stocked with introduced brown trout (Salmo trutta) or native upland bully (Gobiomorphus breviceps) or had fish excluded. We studied algal biomass and both invertebrate density and daytime activity on surface stones on several dates after the disturbance, invertebrate community composition in the substrata of the entire channels on day 28 and leaf decomposition rates over the 28‐day period. 3. Disturbance affected algal biomass and density, richness and activity of surface stone invertebrates, and overall density and richness of channel invertebrates. Presence or absence of fish, by contrast, did not influence overall invertebrate standing stocks when subsurface substrata were included but did affect invertebrate densities on surface stones in 45% of all analysed cases and invertebrate activity on surface stones in all cases. Leaf decomposition rates were not influenced at all by the experimental manipulations. 4. Native upland bullies featured more often than exotic brown trout in causing invertebrate density changes and equally often in causing changes to grazer behaviour. Overall, our results imply that fish predation can have strong effects on the benthic invertebrate community in frequently disturbed streams, especially via behavioural changes.     

Rapid global change: implications for defining natives and aliens

The ability to ascribe native or alien status to species in a rapidly changing world underpins diverse research fields that overlap with global change and biological invasions via biodiversity. Current definitions generally link alien status to anthropogenic dispersal events, but this can create conflicts for active management and global change adaptation strategies, such as managed relocation and restoration ecology. Here we propose a unifying approach that allows for the incorporation of rapid global change into biological invasion terminology. We introduce the concept of a projected dispersal envelope (PDE) to define the region where a species is or could be native, irrespective of human involvement. The PDE integrates biogeography and niche theory with existing invasion terminology to place a spatial and temporal context on species movements. We draw on a diverse suite of topical organism movements to illustrate these concepts. Our restructured definitions allow for native species to move into or with rapidly shifting climatic regions, as well as identifying the inappropriate introduction of alien species to new areas. Moreover, our definitions framework forms a timely and essential component of adaptation policies and responses for invasive species management and the enhancement of biodiversity in a rapidly changing world.     

成年女性系统性红斑狼疮血清中抗黄体抗体与月经异常 的相关性研究

目的:探讨成年女性系统性红斑狼疮(SLE)血清中抗黄体抗体与月经异常的相关性。方法:收集SLE患者及正常对照者的临床资料,详细记录入选研究对象的月经及生育情况,同时记录抗核抗体(ANA)等自身抗体的测定结果。采用酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)法检测患者血清中抗黄体抗体。结果:在入选的69例成年女性SLE患者中,26(38%)例患者抗黄体抗体阳性。而在40例健康对照者中,仅2(5%)例出现抗黄体抗体阳性。在入选的69例SLE患者中,29(42%)例患者的月经正常,40(58%)例患者出现月经异常。在40例健康对照者中,31(78%)例患者的月经正常,仅9(21%)例患者出现月经异常。有月经异常的SLE患者中抗黄体抗体的阳性率显著高于无月经异常的SLE患者(66%vs 18%,P<0.01),而在健康对照者中则未见有显著性差异。结论:SLE患者中抗黄体抗体的阳性率为38%,并可能与SLE的月经异常相关。     

狼针草光合特性对放牧干扰的响应

以内蒙古呼伦贝尔草甸草原围封草地和放牧草地为实验样地, 通过对两种草地类型中狼针草(Stipa baicalensis)的光合特性、水分关系、植物渗透调节等生理生态学特性测定分析, 比较研究放牧干扰对狼针草的影响。结果表明: 在放牧干扰下, 狼针草通过增强核酮糖二磷酸羧化酶(RUBPCase)活性、叶绿素含量、改变电子流的方向和速率、增强光系统II (PSII)活性(p < 0.05), 促进同化物的累积和植物的补偿生长, 应对放牧干扰的影响。放牧干扰下狼针草的光合速率日变化曲线呈单峰型, 而围封草地中呈“双峰型”, 出现“午休”现象, 正午RuBPCase的羧化能力下降是造成围封草地狼针草光合“午休”的非气孔因素之一, 而磷元素的缺失可能是导致二磷酸核酮糖羧化酶(Rubisco)活性下降的原因。在光合能量分配方面, 两种样地狼针草的PSII最大光化学量子产量(F_v/F_m)均出现光抑制现象。放牧草地中狼针草对光照增强较为敏感, F_v/F_m值下降趋势明显(p < 0.05)。和围封样地相比, 放牧样地的狼针草光化学猝灭(q_P)值升高, 而非光化学猝灭(NPQ)值降低(p < 0.05), 分配更多的能量于光合反应中心, 有利于同化物累积, 提高光合能力来适应放牧的影响。在放牧干扰下, 狼针草叶片水势与叶片含水量降低, 而渗透调节物质可溶性蛋白和可溶性糖含量增加(p < 0.05), 狼针草的蓄水性变弱, 需要通过增加体内渗透调节物质, 主动降低水势, 以保证从土壤中获取足够的水分维持自身生理活性。同时, 放牧干扰促进了狼针草对氮元素的吸收利用。放牧样地中狼针草光合氮、磷利用率均与叶比重呈负相关关系。