Stream Restoration Practices in the Southeastern United States

We collected information on 860 stream restoration projects in four states in the southeastern United States—Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina—to gain a better understanding of the practice of stream restoration in this area of high aquatic biodiversity and rapid metropolitan expansion. This was completed as a part of the National River Restoration Science Synthesis, with the larger goal of understanding the state of the science of stream restoration. Stream restoration project density, goals, and monitoring rates varied by state, although southeastern monitoring rates were higher than in other parts of the country. North Carolina had the most projects in the Southeast, of which 36% were monitored. In‐depth phone interviews with project managers from a random subsample of projects provided insights into the process of stream restoration. Land availability was the most common basis for site prioritization, and 49% of projects involved mitigation. Although 51% of projects were associated with a watershed assessment, only 30% of projects were done as part of a larger plan for the watershed. Projects were monitored using physical (77% of monitored projects), chemical (36%), and biological (86%) variables, although many projects were planned and ultimately evaluated based on public opinion. Our results suggest that stream restoration in the southeastern United States is at an exciting point where better incorporation of a watershed perspective into planning and establishment and evaluation of stated, measurable success criteria for every project could lead to more effective projects.     

Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi are common root inhabitants of non-Ericaceae plants in a south-eastern Australian sclerophyll forest

Fungi were isolated from the roots of 17 plant species from the families Apiaceae, Cunoniaceae, Cyperaceae, Droseraceae, Fabaceae-Mimosoideae, Lomandraceae, Myrtaceae, Pittosporaceae, Proteaceae and Stylidiaceae at a sclerophyll forest site in New South Wales, Australia. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequence comparisons indicated that the isolated fungi had affinities to a range of ascomycetes, basidiomycetes and zygomycetes. Four RFLP types had closest affinities to previously identified Helotiales ericoid mycorrhizal (ERM) or Oidiodendron spp. Isolates representing six RFLP types, which were variously isolated from all 17 plant species, formed ERM coils in hair root epidermal cells of Woollsia pungens (Ericaceae) under gnotobiotic conditions. Three of these isolates formed intercellular hyphae, intracellular hyphae and/or microsclerotia, which are typical of dark septate endophyte infection, in roots of Stylidium productum (Stylidiaceae), indicating an ability to form different types of association with roots of different hosts. Overall the data indicate that a broad range of plant taxa may act as repositories for ERM fungi in sclerophyll forest soil.     

中国林蛙皮肤抗菌肽抗菌的特性

从林蛙皮肤中分离到具有抗菌活性的多肽混合物——多肽FⅢ。抑菌实验表明,林蛙皮肤中小分子活性肽对革兰氏阳性细菌、革兰氏阴性细菌都具有一定的抗菌作用,并且此粗提物的抗菌活性远远高于传统食品防腐剂苯甲酸钠和山梨酸钾的抗菌活性。     

广州帽峰山次生林主要种群种间联结性研究

运用方差比率法(VR)、χ²统计量、2×2联列表和共同出现百分率对帽峰山次生林群落10000m²典型样地乔木层15个主要种群和灌木层9个主要种群进行种间联结的测定与分析,指出乔木层15个种群总体呈不显著的负联结,主要种群黄樟、三叉苦、鸭脚木和亮叶猴耳环只与极少数种群形成显著联结,与大部分种群联结关系较弱。灌木层9个种群整体为显著负联结,但主要种群三叉苦与九节、七裂叶悬钩子和假鹰爪呈显著正联结,鸭脚木与九节呈显著正联结,亮叶猴耳环与灌木层其它种群不存在显著联结关系。本文比较了多物种间总体关联性指标和3个成对物种间联结性测定指标的优缺点,并探讨了帽峰山生态公益林示范区次生林经营管理和可持续发展的基本途径。     

Game Vertebrate Densities in Hunted and Nonhunted Forest Sites in Manu National Park,Peru

Manu National Park of southern Peru is one of the most renowned protected areas in the world, yet large-bodied vertebrate surveys conducted to date have been restricted to Cocha Cashu Biological Station, a research station covering <0.06 percent of the 1.7 Mha park. Manu Park is occupied by >460 settled Matsigenka Amerindians, 300–400 isolated Matsigenka, and several, little-known groups of isolated hunter–gatherers, yet the impact of these native Amazonians on game vertebrate populations within the park remains poorly understood. On the basis of 1495 km of standardized line-transect censuses, we present density and biomass estimates for 23 mammal, bird, and reptile species for seven lowland and upland forest sites in Manu Park, including Cocha Cashu. We compare these estimates between hunted and nonhunted sites within Manu Park, and with other Neotropical forest sites. Manu Park safeguards some of the most species-rich and highest biomass assemblages of arboreal and terrestrial mammals ever recorded in Neotropical forests, most likely because of its direct Andean influence and high levels of soil fertility. Relative to Barro Colorado Island, seed predators and arboreal folivores in Manu are rare, and generalist frugivores specializing on mature fruit pulp are abundant. The impact of such a qualitative shift in the vertebrate community on the dynamics of plant regeneration, and therefore, on our understanding of tropical plant ecology, must be profound. Despite a number of external threats, Manu Park continues to serve as a baseline against which other Neotropical forests can be gauged. Abstract in Spanish is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/btp .     

Are We Losing the Best Parts of Our Protected Areas in Tropical Mountains?

Protected areas (PAs) on tropical mountains undergo greater forest destruction in their lower altitudes. We compared the extent of forested, nonforested, and fragmented areas between lowland (<1000 m asl) and montane zones of the Blue Mountains inside the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park established in Jamaica in 1993. We found that in 2008, inside the montane zone, only 4 percent of forest was cleared, and forest fragmentation was minimal. In the lowland zone, however, the percentage of forest cleared was seven times as high, and the density of fragments was 11-fold higher. We established twenty-five 0.04 ha lowland plots; ordination of tree species composition in these plots reflected a rainfall gradient, showing that plots on the wetter northern side of the Blue Mountains were floristically different from those on the drier southern side. The conservation value of the remaining lowland forest is high because of its high endemism (18% of species in our plots) and beta diversity. In addition, IUCN Red List data show that about 71 percent of threatened tree species in the Blue Mountains grow in the lowland region, 92 percent of which are endemic. From these findings, we identify a ‘protected area hotspot zone’, which lies between the PA boundary and the core high-altitude zone, and which should be instituted in IUCN categories I and II PAs.     

The use of infrared‐triggered cameras for surveying phasianids in Sichuan Province,China

We report on the use of infrared‐triggered cameras as an effective tool to survey phasianid populations in Wanglang and Wolong Nature Reserves, China. Surveys at 183 camera‐trapping sites recorded 30 bird species, including nine phasianids (one grouse and eight pheasant species). Blood Pheasant Ithaginis cruentus and Temminck’s Tragopan Tragopan temminckii were the phasianids most often detected at both reserves and were found within the mid‐elevation range (2400–3600 m asl). The occupancy rate and detection probability of both species were examined using an occupancy model relative to eight sampling covariates and three detection covariates. The model estimates of occupancy for Blood Pheasant (0.30) and Temminck’s Tragopan (0.14) are close to the naïve estimates based on camera detections (0.27 and 0.13, respectively). The estimated detection probability during a 5‐day period was 0.36 for Blood Pheasant and 0.30 for Temminck’s Tragopan. The daily activity patterns for these two species were assessed from the time/date stamps on the photographs and sex ratios calculated for Blood Pheasant (152M : 72F) and Temminck’s Tragopan (48M : 21F). Infrared cameras are valuable for surveying these reclusive species and our protocol is applicable to research or monitoring of phasianids.     

A new genus of African Acrometopini (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) based on morphology,chromosomes, acoustics,distribution, and molecular data,and the description of a new species

A new genus, Altihoratosphaga, is erected for species formerly assigned to Horatosphaga Schaum, 1853, and a new species is described. Four species are included in Altihoratosphaga: Altihoratosphaga nomima (Karsch, 1896), Altihoratosphaga montivaga ( Sjöstedt, 1909 ), Altihoratosphaga nou (Hemp, 2007) and Altihoratosphaga hanangensis sp. nov. All four species are restricted to Tanzanian localities, and, except for A. nomima, for which no ecological data are available, are confined to montane forest habitats. Data on ecology, acoustics, chromosomes, and molecular relationships are provided, as well as a key to Altihoratosphaga species. The present‐day distribution of Altihoratosphaga species suggests former migration events at times when wetter and colder climatic fluctuations favoured connections between montane forest communities, which today are isolated, enabling flightless taxa such as Altihoratosphaga and Monticolaria to spread. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 158 , 66–82.     

空间直观景观模型LANDIS在大兴安岭呼中林区的应用

应用空间直观景观模型(LANDIS),研究有采伐和无采伐预案下大兴安岭呼中林区的森林景观的长期变化。用APACK计算每一个物种及各年龄级的分布面积。为了研究物种分布格局的变化,计算了物种分布的聚集度指数。研究结果如下：(1)在无采伐预案下。火干扰模式为低频率大面积高强度火烧;在有采伐预下,火干扰模式为高频率小面积低强度火烧;(2)在无采伐预案下,火会造成各种群分布面积的强烈波动,但是对种群的年龄结构没有很大影响;在有采伐预案下,火对种群分布面积和年龄结构都没有很大的影响;(3)采伐能完全改变各种群的年龄结构。降低种群分布的聚集度,但是对各种群的分布面积并没有很大影响;(4)在有采伐预案下,各种群为增长型种群,增长量通过采伐取走,群落处于演替的干扰顶极状态;在无采伐预案下,各种群为稳定型种群(樟子松和偃松除外),大面积高强度火烧使群落产生较大的波动。结果表明,在呼中林业局,在没有人为干扰情况下,火干扰是森林景观变化的主导因素。自从有了人为干扰,采伐开始逐渐取代火干扰成为影响森林景观变化的主导因素。空间直观景观模型的一个挑战是模型的验证。由于缺乏详细的空间数据及模型模拟中的随机性,很难通过模型模拟结果与实地调查或遥感数据的比较进行验证。通过对火模拟、物种分布和物种组成的生态或生物学实现对模型进行验证。     

河北北部和内蒙古东部森林-草原交错带森林景观格局初步研究

河北北部、内蒙古东部森林 草原交错带的森林景观主要有白桦林、山杨林、云杉林、蒙古栎林和榆树疏林。森林斑块的数量在森林 草原交错带的森林草甸区最多 ,其次是森林带 ,再次是森林 草原交错带的草甸草原区 ,草原带没有森林斑块。从森林带到森林 草原交错带 ,森林斑块变小、森林景观破碎化程度提高。森林 草原交错带森林景观的形成是气候变化和现代气候、地形、火灾和人为活动综合作用的结果