Carbon pool densities and a first estimate of the total carbon pool in the Mongolian forest‐steppe

The boreal forest biome represents one of the most important terrestrial carbon stores, which gave reason to intensive research on carbon stock densities. However, such an analysis does not yet exist for the southernmost Eurosiberian boreal forests in Inner Asia. Most of these forests are located in the Mongolian forest‐steppe, which is largely dominated by Larix sibirica. We quantified the carbon stock density and total carbon pool of Mongolia's boreal forests and adjacent grasslands and draw conclusions on possible future change. Mean aboveground carbon stock density in the interior of L. sibirica forests was 66 Mg C ha^?1, which is in the upper range of values reported from boreal forests and probably due to the comparably long growing season. The density of soil organic carbon (SOC, 108 Mg C ha^?1) and total belowground carbon density (149 Mg C ha^?1) are at the lower end of the range known from boreal forests, which might be the result of higher soil temperatures and a thinner permafrost layer than in the central and northern boreal forest belt. Land use effects are especially relevant at forest edges, where mean carbon stock density was 188 Mg C ha^?1, compared with 215 Mg C ha^?1 in the forest interior. Carbon stock density in grasslands was 144 Mg C ha^?1. Analysis of satellite imagery of the highly fragmented forest area in the forest‐steppe zone showed that Mongolia's total boreal forest area is currently 73 818 km², and 22% of this area refers to forest edges (defined as the first 30 m from the edge). The total forest carbon pool of Mongolia was estimated at ~ 1.5?1.7 Pg C, a value which is likely to decrease in future with increasing deforestation and fire frequency, and global warming.     

白鹤冷冻精液人工授精实验

为了探索鹤类精液冷冻保存和使用技术,2003～2005年,进行了白鹤(Grus leucogeranus)的冷冻精液保存及人工授精实验。使用Beltsville家禽精液稀释液作为白鹤精液稀释液,12%的二甲基亚砜(DMSO)为冷冻液。精液样本冷冻经过三个阶段的降温,最后保存在液氮中。成功保存了编号93001雄性白鹤精液36 支（0.2 ml/支）。冷冻精液在0~4℃冰水中解冻3~5 min,解冻后白鹤精液精子活率为29.3%±15.5%（n=16）,2004和2005年分别为92101号雌鹤产的两窝卵进行人工授精实验,2年共产卵5枚,其中1枚卵受精并成功孵化。实验发现在雌鹤产卵前一周和产卵期间每天输精,并增加每次输精量,同时在产完1枚卵后4 h内完成一次输精,效果最佳。     

Will the Three Gorges Dam affect the underwater light climate of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vallisneria spiralis</Emphasis> L. and food habitat of Siberian crane in Poyang Lake?

Almost 95% of the entire population of the Siberian crane (Grus leucogeranus) winter in Poyang Lake, China, where they forage on the tubers of the submerged aquatic macrophyte Vallisneria spiralis. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River may possibly affect this food source of the Siberian crane by affecting the light intensity reaching the top of the V. spiralis canopy. In this study, the photosynthetically active radiation at the top of the V. spiralis canopy (PAR_tc) in Lake Dahuchi was modeled from 1998 to 2006, and the potential impacts of changes in water level and turbidity on the underwater light climate of V. spiralis were analyzed. PAR_tc was calculated from incident irradiance while the losses due to reflection at the water surface, absorption, and scattering within the water column were taken into consideration. The results indicated significant differences in PAR_tc between years. Six years of water level and Secchi disk depth records revealed a seasonal switching of the lake from a turbid state at low water levels in autumn, winter, and spring to a clear state at high water levels during the monsoon in summer. The highest PAR_tc occurred at intermediate water levels, which were reached when the Yangtze River forces Lake Dahuchi out of its turbid state in early summer and the water becomes clear. The intended operation of the Three Gorges Dam, which will increase water levels in May and June, may advance the moment when Lake Dahuchi switches from turbid to clear. We suggest that this might increase production of V. spiralis and possibly improve the food habitat conditions for wintering Siberian crane in Poyang Lake.

Performance of the potentially invasive Siberian moth Dendrolimus superans sibiricus on coniferous species in Europe

1 The native range of the Siberian moth extends from the Pacific Ocean (Russian Far East, Japan and Northern Korea) across Siberia, Northern China and Mongolia to the Ural Mountains. At the beginning of the 21st Century, this species was documented west of the Ural Mountains in the Republic of Mari El, indicating range extension toward the west.
2 The Siberian moth has recently been suggested for regulation as a quarantine pest for European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization member countries. However, no specific report on European host plants for this pest has been published so far.
3 In the present study, larval host plant choice and performance was tested for the first time on coniferous tree species that are widely distributed and of commercial value in Europe.
4 Based on dual-choice tests on neonates and mortality, developmental duration and relative growth rates of the first- to sixth-instar larvae, we found European larch Larix decidua to be the most suitable host for the moth larvae, whereas European black pine Pinus nigra and Scots pine Pinus sylvestris were the poorest hosts. The remaining conifer species tested, European silver fir Abies alba , Nordmann fir Abies nordmanniana , and Norway spruce Picea abies , were intermediate host plants. Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga menziesii , originating from North America, was chosen by the larvae to the same extend as European larch, and was also highly suitable for larval development.
5 If the moth is introduced to European countries, it will become damaging in stands of European larch and Douglas-fir, mixed stands of fir and spruce; however, it will be less damaging in forests dominated by two-needle pines.
6 We predict that Dendrolimus superans sibiricus will be able to survive and develop on the main European coniferous tree species, including non-native coniferous tree species, resulting in severe damage to large areas of forests.     

Higher climate warming sensitivity of Siberian larch in small than large forest islands in the fragmented Mongolian forest steppe

Forest fragmentation has been found to affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in multiple ways. We asked whether forest size and isolation in fragmented woodlands influences the climate warming sensitivity of tree growth in the southern boreal forest of the Mongolian Larix sibirica forest steppe, a naturally fragmented woodland embedded in grassland, which is highly affected by warming, drought, and increasing anthropogenic forest destruction in recent time. We examined the influence of stand size and stand isolation on the growth performance of larch in forests of four different size classes located in a woodland‐dominated forest‐steppe area and small forest patches in a grassland‐dominated area. We found increasing climate sensitivity and decreasing first‐order autocorrelation of annual stemwood increment with decreasing stand size. Stemwood increment increased with previous year's June and August precipitation in the three smallest forest size classes, but not in the largest forests. In the grassland‐dominated area, the tree growth dependence on summer rainfall was highest. Missing ring frequency has strongly increased since the 1970s in small, but not in large forests. In the grassland‐dominated area, the increase was much greater than in the forest‐dominated landscape. Forest regeneration decreased with decreasing stand size and was scarce or absent in the smallest forests. Our results suggest that the larch trees in small and isolated forest patches are far more susceptible to climate warming than in large continuous forests pointing to a grim future for the forests in this strongly warming region of the boreal forest that is also under high land use pressure.     

Parental nepotism enhances survival of retained offspring in the Siberian jay

The evolutionary payoff accruing to parents from breeding offspringcould be an incentive for prolonged investments in the offspring.Enhanced survival for offspring as a result of such a prolongedparental investment would increase the value of remaining inthe natal territory for the offspring. Here we show that first-yearsurvival in Siberian jays is higher in the company of theirparents. Two observations point to that the enhanced survivalof retained offspring is due to nepotistic parents rather thanto the quality of a shared habitat. First, winter survivalis higher only for those retained offspring whose parents havesurvived too ; this precludes the possibility that the linkbetween timing of dispersal and survival should reflect a higher phenotypic quality of retained offspring in general. Second,there is no support for the more parsimonious explanation thatthis link between the survival of parents and retained offspringreflects habitat quality of a shared territory. We could, withhigh statistical power, reject the possibility of a correlationbetween the survival of parental birds and unrelated immigrantsto the territory. Such a correlation would have been expectedif survival reflected habitat quality and not kinship. Our data instead suggest a direct fitness gain to retained offspringin enhanced survival through parental nepotism (parental facilitation).The behavior of parents in allowing retained offspring accessto food that is denied to immigrants is one proximate mechanismmediating a benefit of delayed dispersal.     

鄱阳湖围垦区藕塘越冬白鹤的时间分配与行为节律

2016年12月—2017年3月,采用瞬时扫描法研究了鄱阳湖围垦区藕塘生境中白鹤Grus leucogeranus越冬期的行为,共扫描2560次,23219只次,包括18031只次成鹤和5188只次幼鹤。结果表明,觅食(41.78%)、警戒(25.02%)、修整(15.00%)和休息(10.84%)是白鹤越冬期的主要行为。与自然生境相比,藕塘生境中白鹤主要采取多休息和修整的策略来节省能量支出。成鹤的觅食行为(35.29%)显著低于幼鹤(62.42%)(F_(1,12)=45.977,P0.01),警戒行为(28.66%)则显著高于幼鹤(10.26%)(F_(1,12)=38.975,P0.01)。家庭群成鹤觅食行为(43.96%)极显著高于非家庭群成鹤(27.04%)(F_(1,12)=60.169,P0.01)。家庭群成鹤需要喂食幼鹤,它们花费更多的时间觅食弥补能量的消耗。行为节律上,白鹤各时段觅食行为占总行为的比例均较高,11:00—11:59出现明显高峰,占总行为的48.64%。警戒行为无明显的低谷和高峰。成鹤在各时段的觅食行为比例均明显低于幼鹤,成鹤和幼鹤的觅食曲线变化趋势相似,即觅食比例的升高和降低比较同步。成鹤在各时段的警戒行为和修整行为比例均明显高于幼鹤,成幼鹤的休息行为比例在各时段差别不大,均在14:00—14:59有个明显的高峰。家庭群成鹤的觅食行为比例几乎在各时段均明显高于非家庭群,家庭群成鹤的修整行为和休息行为在大部分时段均低于非家庭群成鹤。因此家庭群成鹤采取多取食,少休息和修整的策略提高自身的适合度,同时保证对后代的抚育。     

气候变化对鄱阳湖白鹤越冬种群数量变化的影响

分析了1983—2011年鄱阳湖国家级自然保护区越冬白鹤种群数量的年际变化趋势,检验了白鹤种群动态与繁殖地和越冬地气候变化的相关性,气候变量包括月平均气温、月平均最高气温、月平均最低气温和月降水量。研究结果表明,鄱阳湖国家级自然保护区内的白鹤年最大数量平均为(2 130±153)只,呈显著地线性增长趋势(R2=0.454,F=22.441,df=28,P=0.000),但年际波动较大。在越冬地,越冬当年10月、11月、12月的气候变量与白鹤种群数量没有显著的相关性,但越冬初期10月份和越冬后期翌年3月份的气温变量与第4年、第5年、第6年及第7年的白鹤种群数量存在显著的正相关,表明越冬地气候对白鹤种群大小的影响存在时滞效应。越冬初期和末期可能是白鹤补充能量的关键阶段,而且越冬初期的气候可能也与冬季食物的数量或质量相关,因此这两个阶段的适宜气温可能有利于个体尤其是幼鹤的存活,使更多的个体参加繁殖,由于白鹤的性成熟年龄在3—5a,因此其对白鹤种群增长的有利影响会在3a以后表现出来。白鹤种群数量变化与繁殖地繁殖期的降水量没有显著的相关性,而与7月份的气温变量存在显著的正相关。多元线性回归分析结果表明,6a前的10月份平均最低温度、2a前的10月最高温度及5a前的10月平均气温是白鹤种群数量变化的显著预测因子,共同解释了鄱阳湖国家级自然保护区白鹤种群数量变化的74.8%(F=23.807,df=27,P=0.000)。