不同植被类型森林火灾及雷击火自组织临界性

利用黑龙江省大兴安岭林区呼中区 196 5～ 2 0 0 2年的雷击火数据、黑龙江省 1981～ 2 0 0 0年森林火灾数据及森林资源数据 ,对雷击造成的森林火灾的自组织临界性及不同植被类型条件下的自组织临界性作了研究 ,比较了在不同尺度和植被类型条件下火干扰的自组织临界性、自相似性 ,并与传统的森林火灾元胞自动机模型模拟的结果进行比较。结果表明 :中国黑龙江省不同森林类型的火干扰具有自组织临界行为 ,森林可燃物已经达到临界状态 ,其临界值在 1.8～ 2 .86之间 ,具有自相似性 ;当森林的面积过小时 ,森林火灾的“面积 -频率”分布曲线上会出现频率峰 ,表现出“有限面积效应”现象。     

Understorey plant community structure in lower montane and subalpine forests, Grand Canyon National Park, USA

Aim Our objectives were to compare understorey plant community structure among forest types, and to test hypotheses relating understorey community structure within lower montane and subalpine forests to fire history, forest structure, fuel loads and topography. Location Forests on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA. Methods We measured understorey (< 1.4 m) plant community structure in 0.1‐ha plots. We examined differences in univariate response variables among forest types, used permutational manova to assess compositional differences between forest types, and used indicator species analysis to identify species driving the differences between forest types. We then compiled sets of proposed models for predicting plant community structure, and used Akaike's information criterion (AIC_C) to determine the support for each model. Model averaging was used to make multi‐model inferences if no single model was supported. Results Within the lower montane zone, pine–oak forests had greater understorey plant cover, richness and diversity than pure stands of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa P. & C. Lawson var. scopulorum Engelm.). Plant cover was negatively related to time since fire and to ponderosa pine basal area, and was highest on northern slopes and where Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii Nutt.) was present. Species richness was negatively related to time since fire and to ponderosa pine basal area, and was highest on southern slopes and where Gambel oak was present. Annual forb species richness was negatively related to time since fire. Community composition was related to time since fire, pine and oak basal area, and topography. Within subalpine forests, plant cover was negatively related to subalpine fir basal area and amounts of coarse woody debris (CWD), and positively related to Engelmann spruce basal area. Species richness was negatively related to subalpine fir basal area and amounts of CWD, was positively related to Engelmann spruce basal area, and was highest on southern slopes. Community composition was related to spruce, fir and aspen basal areas, amounts of CWD, and topography. Main conclusions In montane forests, low‐intensity surface fire is an important ecological process that maintains understorey communities within the range of natural variability and appears to promote landscape heterogeneity. The presence of Gambel oak was positively associated with high floristic diversity. Therefore management that encourages lightning‐initiated wildfires and Gambel oak production may promote floristic diversity. In subalpine forests, warm southern slopes and areas with low amounts of subalpine fir and CWD were positively associated with high floristic diversity. Therefore the reduction of CWD and forest densities through managed wildfire may promote floristic diversity, although fire use in subalpine forests is inherently more difficult due to intense fire behaviour in dense spruce–fir forests.     

Spatial ecology of a threatened python (Morelia spilota imbricata) and the effects of anthropogenic habitat change

Abstract Large predators play important ecological roles, but often are sensitive to habitat changes and thus are early casualties of habitat perturbation. Pythons are among the largest predators in many Australian environments, and hence warrant conservation‐orientated research. Carpet pythons (Morelia spilota imbricata) have declined across much of south‐western Australia presumably because of habitat clearance and degradation. Information on habitat use, home range sizes and movements is needed to plan for the conservation of this important predator. We studied pythons at two study sites (Garden Island and Dryandra Woodland) with markedly different climates, habitat types and disturbance histories. We surgically implanted radio‐transmitters in 91 pythons and tracked them for periods of 1 month to 4 years. Dryandra pythons remained inactive inside tree hollows during cooler months (May–September), whereas some (especially small) pythons on Garden Island continued to move and feed. Overall weekly displacements (mean = 100–150 m) were similar at the two study sites and among sex/age classes, except that reproductive females were sedentary during summer while they were incubating eggs. Home ranges averaged 15–20 ha. Adult male pythons had larger home ranges than adult females at Dryandra, but not at Garden Island. Radio‐tracked snakes at Dryandra exhibited high site fidelity, returning to previously occupied logs after long absences and reusing tree hollows for winter shelter. Many of the logs used by snakes had been felled during plantation establishment >70 years ago, with little subsequent regeneration of source trees. In contrast, Garden Island snakes usually sheltered under dense shrubs. Habitat usage was similar among different sex/age classes of snakes at each site, except that juvenile pythons were more arboreal than adults. Although carpet pythons demonstrate great flexibility in habitat use, certain habitat elements appear critical for the persistence of viable populations. Fire plays a central role in this process, albeit in complex ways. For example, low‐intensity fires reduce the availability of hollow logs on the ground at Dryandra and fail to regenerate shrub thickets required by prey species. Paradoxically, high‐intensity fires stimulate shrub thickets and fell trees creating new logs – but might also threaten overwinter trees. Thus, the impact of disturbances (such as wildfires) on the viability of python populations will be mediated in complex ways by alteration to important microhabitats such as vegetation cover or log availability. At Dryandra, landscape management should include occasional fire events to generate new logs as well as shrub thickets used by prey. Strategic burning may also be required at Garden Island to regenerate some vegetation communities.     

RNA interference‐mediated knockdown of IAP in Lygus lineolaris induces mortality in adult and pre‐adult life stages

In recent years, RNA interference (RNAi) has been validated as a viable approach for functional genetic studies in non‐model organisms. In this report we demonstrate the efficacy of RNAi in the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Miridae: Hemiptera). A L. lineolaris inhibitor of apoptosis gene (LlIAP) has been identified and cloned. The translated sequence encodes a 381 amino acid protein similar to other insect IAPs and contains two conserved baculovirus inhibitor of apoptosis protein repeat (BIR) domains. Microinjection of double stranded RNA (dsRNA) corresponding to two disparate portions of the gene resulted in decreased LlIAP mRNA quantities relative to controls. Both nymphs and adult specimens injected with IAP dsRNA exhibited significantly reduced lifespan compared with those injected with non‐insect dsRNA (eGFP). Thus, RNAi‐mediated knockdown of LlIAP expression has been correlated with a lethal phenotype in adults and nymphs.     

广义Rothermel模型预测平地无风条件下红松蒙古栎林地表混合可燃物的火行为

以帽儿山地区红松-蒙古栎林下地表混合可燃物为材料,进行不同含水率、载量和混合比例的室内点烧试验,观测得到蔓延速率、驻留时间、反应强度、火线强度和火焰长度,并与采用表面积加权法和载量加权法的广义Rothermel模型预测值进行比较.结果表明： 广义Rothermel模型对红松 蒙古栎林下地表混合可燃物的林火蔓延速率、反应强度的预测平均绝对误差分别为0.04 m·min^-1、77 kW·m^-2,预测平均相对误差分别为16%、22%;对驻留时间、火线强度和火焰长度的预测偏低,预测平均绝对误差分别为15.5 s、17.3 kW·m^-1和9.7 cm,预测平均相对误差分别为55.5%、48.7%和24%.这些误差可以看成是用该模型预测同类可燃物相应火行为的误差下限.两种加权算法对模型预测精度影响差异不大,当红松可燃物所占比重较小时,表面积加权法得到的蔓延速率和反应强度预测值精度较高,载量加权法得到的火线强度和火焰长度预测值精度较高;当红松可燃物所占比重较大时,结果则相反.     

Classifying the fire‐response traits of plants: How reliable are species‐level classifications?

Plant species in fire‐prone environments possess specific traits which allow them to survive fire. Species are commonly classified according to whether they survive fire and resprout or whether they are killed by fire and regenerate from seed. However, different populations of the same species have been shown to vary in their responses. Therefore, the classification of a species into a single category based on fire‐response traits may not necessarily be representative of every population under every circumstance. This study examined the extent of within‐species variation in fire‐response traits of woody plants in south‐eastern Australia after the 2003 fires. Species were then classified using two approaches: (i) using data from a field survey of fire‐response traits, taking into account within‐species variation; and (ii) using species' fire responses listed in a pre‐existing fire‐response database compiled from a variety of primary sources. Field data showed that the majority of species in the study area resprouted after fire with around one in 10 species variable in their resprouting response. Almost half of all species varied from site to site according to whether they regenerated from seed, either solely or in addition to resprouting. The numbers of species classified as resprouters and seed regenerators varied according to the classification method used. Differences were also found between the classification method when calculating the mean proportion of resprouters and seed regenerators across sites. The fire‐response traits for some species from the database were found to differ from the observed field responses. This study demonstrated that the application of a fire‐response trait, reported in a trait database, to an entire species, may not adequately represent the actual fire responses of the populations of interest. Rather than considering the fire‐response traits of a species, accurate prediction may be better achieved by considering how different populations of plants will respond to fire.     

应用空间点模式方法研究大兴安岭雷击火空间分布格局

林火空间分布格局的研究对于林火发生预测以及理解林火在森林景观变化过程中的作用具有重要的意义.运用空间点模式方法对大兴安岭地区1988～2005年间雷击火发生情况进行了统计分析进而确定雷击火空间分布情况,研究结果表明大兴安岭地区雷击火成聚集分布,并存在雷击火热点地区,其核心区地理坐标分别为123°06′E,52°20′N;123°41′E,51°34′N;124°08′E,50°48′N.     

Assembly rules of ground-foraging ant assemblages are contingent on disturbance, habitat and spatial scale

Aim A major endeavour of community ecology is documenting non‐random patterns in the composition and body size of coexisting species, and inferring the processes, or assembly rules, that may have given rise to the observed patterns. Such assembly rules include species sorting resulting from interspecific competition, aggregation at patchily distributed resources, and co‐evolutionary dynamics. However, for any given taxon, relatively little is known about how these patterns and processes change through time and vary with habitat type, disturbance history, and spatial scale. Here, we tested for non‐random patterns of species co‐occurrence and body size in assemblages of ground‐foraging ants and asked whether those patterns varied with habitat type, disturbance history, and spatial scale. Location Burned and unburned forests and fens in the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon and northern California, USA. Methods We describe ground‐foraging ant assemblages sampled over two years in two discrete habitat types, namely Darlingtonia fens and upland forests. Half of these sites had been subject to a large‐scale, discrete disturbance – a major fire – in the year prior to our first sample. We used null model analyses to compare observed species co‐occurrence patterns and body‐size distributions in these assemblages with randomly generated assemblages unstructured by competition both within (i.e. at a local spatial scale) and among (i.e. at a regional scale) sites. Results At local spatial scales, species co‐occurrence patterns and body‐size ratios did not differ from randomness. At regional scales, co‐occurrence patterns were random or aggregated, and there was evidence for constant body‐size ratios of forest ants. Although these patterns varied between habitats and years, they did not differ between burned and unburned sites. Main conclusions Our results suggest that the operation of assembly rules depends on spatial scale and habitat type, but that it was not affected by disturbance history from fire.     

Without management interventions,endemic wet‐sclerophyll forest is transitioning to rainforest in World Heritage listed K’gari (Fraser Island), Australia

Wet‐sclerophyll forests are unique ecosystems that can transition to dry‐sclerophyll forests or to rainforests. Understanding of the dynamics of these forests for conservation is limited. We evaluated the long‐term succession of wet‐sclerophyll forest on World Heritage listed K'gari (Fraser Island)—the world's largest sand island. We recorded the presence and growth of tree species in three 0.4 hectare plots that had been subjected to selective logging, fire, and cyclone disturbance over 65 years, from 1952 to 2017. Irrespective of disturbance regimes, which varied between plots, rainforest trees recruited at much faster rates than the dominant wet‐sclerophyll forest trees, narrowly endemic species Syncarpia hillii and more common Lophostemon confertus. Syncarpia hillii did not recruit at the plot with the least disturbance and recruited only in low numbers at plots with more prominent disturbance regimes in the ≥10 cm at breast height size. Lophostemon confertus recruited at all plots but in much lower numbers than rainforest trees. Only five L. confertus were detected in the smallest size class (<10 cm diameter) in the 2017 survey. Overall, we find evidence that more pronounced disturbance regimes than those that have occurred over the past 65 years may be required to conserve this wet‐sclerophyll forest, as without intervention, transition to rainforest is a likely trajectory. Fire and other management tools should therefore be explored, in collaboration with Indigenous landowners, to ensure conservation of this wet‐sclerophyll forest.     

基于InTEC模型的塔河森林净初级生产力影响因子定量分析

森林净初级生产力(NPP)是反映森林碳源/汇能力的重要参数,其时空变化同时受气象变化(大气温度、降水等)、大气成分变化(CO₂浓度、N沉降)和各种森林干扰的影响.然而,目前影响森林NPP变化的关键因子尚不明确.为了探究这一问题,本研究在综合考虑InTEC模型的干扰和非干扰因子的基础上,重新模拟了不同立地指数下的NPP-林龄关系,并嵌入1987—2015年林火数据,模拟1901—2015年塔河森林平均NPP变化特征,设计9种模拟情景定量分析1961—2015年不同影响因子对塔河森林NPP变化的贡献,并探究塔河森林NPP年际以及年代变化的主要影响因子,为森林经营提供指导性策略.结果表明: 1901—1960年,塔河森林NPP的变化趋势较为平稳,1960年以后NPP随干扰因子变化趋势显著.林火和立地指数(SCI)的引入,均在不同时间对NPP的分布特征产生了不同影响.1960年以后,塔河森林NPP大幅变化的主要原因是森林年龄和林火的干扰,其年际平均贡献率为-49%,其次是降水和CO₂,分别为-28%和17%,气温和氮沉降的平均贡献率分别为5%和1%.