Extreme winter warming events more negatively impact small rather than large soil fauna: shift in community composition explained by traits not taxa

Extreme weather events can have negative impacts on species survival and community structure when surpassing lethal thresholds. Extreme winter warming events in the Arctic rapidly melt snow and expose ecosystems to unseasonably warm air (2–10 °C for 2–14 days), but returning to cold winter climate exposes the ecosystem to lower temperatures by the loss of insulating snow. Soil animals, which play an integral part in soil processes, may be very susceptible to such events depending on the intensity of soil warming and low temperatures following these events. We simulated week‐long extreme winter warming events – using infrared heating lamps, alone or with soil warming cables – for two consecutive years in a sub‐Arctic dwarf shrub heathland. Minimum temperatures were lower and freeze‐thaw cycles were 2–11 times more frequent in treatment plots compared with control plots. Following the second event, Acari populations decreased by 39%; primarily driven by declines of Prostigmata (69%) and the Mesostigmatic nymphs (74%). A community‐weighted vertical stratification shift occurred from smaller soil dwelling (eu‐edaphic) Collembola species dominance to larger litter dwelling (hemi‐edaphic) species dominance in the canopy‐with‐soil warming plots compared with controls. The most susceptible groups to these winter warming events were the smallest individuals (Prostigmata and eu‐edaphic Collembola). This was not apparent from abundance data at the Collembola taxon level, indicating that life forms and species traits play a major role in community assembly following extreme events. The observed shift in soil community can cascade down to the micro‐flora affecting plant productivity and mineralization rates. Short‐term extreme weather events have the potential to shift community composition through trait composition with potentially large consequences for ecosystem development.     

辽宁省城市热岛强度特征及等级划分

根据气象站资料累积时间、资料连续性、站点位置、城郊站间距离、站点数量、迁站情况,对辽宁省61个气象站进行筛选,并利用选出的城郊代表站的月和年气温数据,分析了辽宁省热岛强度的变化范围及幅度,确定了热岛强度等级.结果表明:辽宁省铁岭站、大连站、鞍山站、朝阳站、丹东站、锦州站6个气象站可作为城市气温的代表站,台安站等18个气象站可作为郊区气温的代表站;1980-2009年,辽宁省6个代表城市的热岛强度年变化不同,除铁岭为微弱下降外,其他5市均表现为上升趋势,铁岭年热岛强度较强,大连年热岛强度较弱;6个代表城市的月热岛强度变化也不同,丹东、锦州、铁岭的月热岛强度呈明显的“U”型分布,6市最大热岛强度均出现在1月,最小热岛强度均出现在5-8月,具有冬季强、夏季弱的特点.6市热岛强度的年、月变化范围分别为0.57～2.15℃和-0.70～4.60℃,年和月热岛强度分别有97.8％和72.3％集中在0.5～2.0℃.辽宁省热岛强度可划分为无、弱、强和极强4个等级.     

The application of the entropy-based statistic for genomic association study of QTL

An entropy-based statistic TPE has been proposed for genomic association study for disease-susceptibility locus.The statistic TPE may be directly adopted and/or extended to quantitative-trait locus (QTL)mapping for quantitative traits.In this article,the statistic TPE was extended and applied to quantitative trait for association analysis of QTL by means of selective genotyping.The statistical properties (the type I error rate and the power) were examined under a range of parameters and population-sampling strategies (e.g.,various genetic models,various heritabilities,and various sample-selection threshold values) by simulation studies.The results indicated that the statistic Tee is robust and powerful for genomic association study of QTL.A simulation study based on the haplotype frequencies of 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of angiotensin-I converting enzyme genes was conducted to evaluate the performance of the statistic TPE for genetic association study.     

Microbial sulphate reduction at a low pH

It is now well established that microbial sulphate-reduction can proceed in environments with a pH<5. This review summarizes existing reports on sulphate reduction at low pH and discusses possible pH effects on sulphate-reducing bacteria. Microbial sulphate reduction has been observed in acidic lakes, wetlands, mesocosms, acidic sulphate soils and bioreactors. Possible inhibitory factors include the metabolites H(2)S and organic acids, which can be toxic depending on pH. Metal sulphide precipitation and competition with other bacteria, namely iron-reducing bacteria, can inhibit sulphate reduction. Theoretical considerations show that normal sulphate reduction rates are too low to maintain a neutral micro niche in an acidic environment. The first acidotolerant sulphate-reducing bacteria have been isolated recently.     

冷型小麦对干旱和阴雨的双重适应性

通过 10余年的研究 ,发现冠层温度持续偏低的冷型小麦具有广幅生态适应性 ,即在正常天气条件下 ,它的活力较好、代谢功能较强、具有较好的抗早衰能力 ,优于其它类型小麦 ;而在气象要素反差很大的干旱和连阴雨天气下 ,冷型小麦和暖型小麦、中间型小麦相比 ,不但冠层温度依然持续偏低 ,且在叶片功能期、叶绿素含量、可溶性蛋白质含量、过氧化氢酶活性、净光合速率和籽粒饱满指数等一系列重要内、外性状上仍能继续保持优势。这种对干旱和阴雨条件的双重适应性是冷型小麦一种宝贵的生物学品质 ,它有可能为小麦在多种气象生态条件下的高产、稳产打下较为坚实的生态生理基础 ,并能为优良品种的选育提出一个把冷温特征作为重要内容的较为新鲜的育种目标。     

Time of germination and establishment success after fire of three obligate seeders in a Mediterranean shrubland of central Spain

Aim Determining how differences in time of germination can affect plant establishment in plant communities that, after a disturbance, must reestablish from seeds under climatic conditions subject to extremes, such as the Mediterranean. Although early germination may be beneficial for survival in summer, when drought is severe, this may expose the seedlings to winter extremes, thus to higher mortality. Understanding how sensitive is the establishment of different species to temporal patterns of germination will help to understand the factors that control species distribution and community stability in disturbance‐prone environments, as well as its sensitivity to changes in weather patterns as climate changes. Methods An experimental fire was made in early fall in an old Cistus–Erica shrubland in Toledo (central Spain). After fire, germination, survival and growth of the three dominant seeder species (Cistus ladanifer, Erica umbellata and Rosmarinus officinalis) were monitored during the first 3 years after fire. Seedlings were tagged to identify their time of emergence, and divided into cohorts according to their month of germination. Differences in survival of the various cohorts were evaluated by means of a Wilcoxon (Gehan) statistic. Height of surviving, tagged plants was compared among cohorts by means of a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. Results The year following fire was one of the driest on record, while the next one was one of the wettest. Germination was more abundant during the first than during the second year. Establishment was mainly from first‐year germination, as the majority of second‐year germinated seedlings died. Temporal patterns of germination within a year and between years varied between species. Seedling mortality was highest immediately following germination, not in summer. Mortality was related to time of germination: during a given period of time, the mortality of younger seedlings was higher than that of older ones. However, survival was not highest for the first cohorts. In general, the earlier the seedlings germinated the more vigourous they became, more clearly so for Cistus than for Rosmarinus, but differences tended to disappear with time. Overall, time of germination varied between species and affected differently seedling survival and vigour of the various species. Rosmarinus and Cistus had sufficient survivors to reestablish the initial population. Erica, despite abundant germination, suffered a strong population reduction. Main conclusions Mediterranean shrub species differ in their temporal patterns of germination and survival after fire. The effect of time of germination is complex: germinating early is advantageous since old seedlings fared better than younger ones when confronted with the same rigours. However, germinating early might expose the seedlings to greater hazards and the first cohort might not survive best. The temporal window for establishment is narrow and mainly restricted to the first year after fire. Second year seedlings, irrespective of most favourable conditions, survived very little. Missing the window of establishment might virtually lead to a population collapse, despite having very high germination, as found for Erica.     

极端酶的研究进展

极端酶具有超常的生物学稳定性,能够在极端温度、pH、压力和离子强度下表现出生物学活性,因此极端酶为生物催化和生物转化提供了良机.新的极端物种的发现、基因组序列的确定及基因工程技术的应用,加快了发现和制备新酶的进程.蛋白质工程和定向进化技术进一步改善酶的活性和特异性,促进了极端酶的工业应用.对极端酶的研究加深了人们对酶稳定性机制的理解,丰富了分子进化理论.     

Growth and water relations of Tamarix ramosissima and Populus euphratica on Taklamakan desert dunes in relation to depth to a permanent water table

The hypothesis that water relations and growth of phreatophytic Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. and Populus euphratica Oliv. on dunes of varying height in an extremely arid Chinese desert depend on vertical distance to a permanent water table was tested. Shoot diameter growth of P. euphratica was inversely correlated with groundwater depth (GD) of 7 to 23 m (adj. R² = 0.69, P = 0.025); growth of T. ramosissima varied independent of GD between 5 and 24 m (P = 0.385). Pre‐dawn (pd) and midday (md) water potentials were lower in T. ramosissima (minimum pd ?1.25 MPa, md ?3.6 MPa at 24 m GD) than in P. euphratica (minimum pd ?0.9 MPa, md ?3.05 MPa at 23 m GD) and did not indicate physiologically significant drought stress for either species. Midday water potentials of P. euphratica closely corresponded to GD throughout the growing season, but those of T. ramosissima did not. In both species, stomatal conductance was significantly correlated with leaf water potential (P. euphratica: adj. R² = 0.84, P < 0.0001; T. ramosissima: adj. R² = 0.64, P = 0.011) and with leaf‐specific hydraulic conductance (P. euphratica: adj. R² = 0.79, P = 0.001; T. ramosissima: adj. R² = 0.56, P = 0.019); the three variables decreased with increasing GD in P. euphratica. Stomatal conductance of P. euphratica was more strongly reduced (> 50% between ?2 and ?3 MPa) in response to decreasing leaf water potential than that of T. ramosissima (30% between ?2 and ?3 MPa). Tolerance of lower leaf water potentials due to higher concentrations of leaf osmotically active substances partially explains why leaf conductance, and probably leaf carbon gain and growth, of T. ramosissima was less severely affected by GD. Additionally, the complex below‐ground structure of large clonal T. ramosissima shrub systems probably introduces variability into the assumed relationship of xylem path length with GD.