Climate change fingerprints in recent European plant phenology

A paper published in Global Change Biology in 2006 revealed that phenological responses in 1971–2000 matched the warming pattern in Europe, but a lack of chilling and adaptation in farming may have reversed these findings. Therefore, for 1951–2018 in a corresponding data set, we determined changes as linear trends and analysed their variation by plant traits/groups, across season and time as well as their attribution to warming following IPCC methodology. Although spring and summer phases in wild plants advanced less (maximum advances in 1978–2007), more (~90%) and more significant (~60%) negative trends were present, being stronger in early spring, at higher elevations, but smaller for nonwoody insect‐pollinated species. These trends were strongly attributable to winter and spring warming. Findings for crop spring phases were similar, but were less pronounced. There were clearer and attributable signs for a delayed senescence in response to winter and spring warming. These changes resulted in a longer growing season, but a constant generative period in wild plants and a shortened one in agricultural crops. Phenology determined by farmers’ decisions differed noticeably from the purely climatic driven phases with smaller percentages of advancing (~75%) trends, but farmers’ spring activities were the only group with reinforced advancement, suggesting adaptation. Trends in farmers’ spring and summer activities were very likely/likely associated with the warming pattern. In contrast, the advance in autumn farming phases was significantly associated with below average summer warming. Thus, under ongoing climate change with decreased chilling the advancing phenology in spring and summer is still attributable to warming; even the farmers’ activities in these seasons mirror, to a lesser extent, the warming. Our findings point to adaptation to climate change in agriculture and reveal diverse implications for terrestrial ecosystems; the strong attribution supports the necessary mediation of warming impacts to the general public.     

Species richness,abundance and diversity of ichneumonid wasps in Japanese beech forests impacted by sika deer and sawfly herbivory

We investigated the community structure of ichneumonid wasps inhabiting beech forests at six sites in the Tanzawa Mountains of Japan under different magnitudes of impact by sika deer Cervus nippon and beech sawfly Fagineura crenativora on vegetation. Using yellow flight-interception traps, we captured 2,528 ichneumonid wasps representing 367 species in 23 subfamilies. The number of species at each site ranged from 77 to 136 and approximately 80% of these were low-density species (i.e. only one to two individuals captured per site). The number of individuals at each site ranged from 248 to 897, and the percentage of the beech sawfly parasitoids varied widely from 1% to 57%. The numbers of species in parasitoid groups categorized according to their hosts, that is, sawfly (not including the beech sawfly), Lepidoptera, woodborer, fungivore or the others, did not greatly differ among the study sites. Parasitoids attacking herbivorous insects exceeded others in species richness and abundance at all sites. Six sites were classified into four groups in terms of abundance of the host groups when excluding the parasitoids of the beech sawfly, but into only two groups when including these parasitoids. Species diversity and evenness were the highest at the least impacted site even if the beech sawfly parasitoids were excluded from calculation. We suggested some environmental factors, such as groundcover vegetation, abundance of the beech sawfly and structure and age of forest stands, that could have affected the community structure of ichneumonid wasps in the beech forests.     

Life cycle of an endangered riffle beetle,Leptelmis gracilis Sharp (Coleoptera: Elmidae), in the Hiikawa River system,Shimane prefecture,Japan

We studied the life cycle of the riffle beetle Leptelmis gracilis Sharp, 1888 from a population located in a river stream with lotic environments. Samples were collected monthly, between September 2018 and August 2019, from a tributary of the Hiikawa River in Izumo city, Shimane Prefecture, Honshu, Japan. Larvae were separated into five distinct groups based on size. The first and last instar larval sizes were identified through rearing methods. From these results, we determined that the larval stage of this species consists of five instars. From the monthly evaluations, the number of individuals corresponding to each instar period suggested that last-instar larvae were dominant in May and that new adults emerged from July to August. Landing and pupation were estimated to occur from May to June. Monthly observations revealed that mature eggs were present in the female abdomen from April to June, as well as from August to September. It is, therefore, predicted that overwintering adults mainly oviposit from spring to early summer, while new adults oviposit from late summer to early autumn.     

中国植被分类系统修订方案

为了推动《中国植被志》研编工作, 该文回顾了中国植被分类系统的发展过程和主要阶段性成果, 提出了作为《中国植被志》研编技术框架组成部分的中国植被分类系统修订方案, 对各植被型组及各植被型进行了简单定义和描述, 并针对中国植被分类系统若干问题, 特别就中国植被分类系统总体框架、混交林的界定以及土壤在植被分类中的重要性等问题进行了讨论。1960年侯学煜在《中国的植被》中首次提出了中国植被分类的原则和系统, 1980年出版的《中国植被》制定了分类等级和划分依据等更加完善的系统, 之后《中国植被及其地理格局——中华人民共和国1:1 000 000植被图说明书》和《中国植物区系与植被地理》以及很多省区的植被专著对该系统进行过修订。2017年宋永昌在《植被生态学》中提出了一个分类等级单位调整的方案。本次提出的中国植被分类系统修订方案基本沿用《中国植被》的植被分类原则、分类单位及系统, 采用“植物群落学-生态学”分类原则, 主要以植物群落特征及其与环境的关系作为分类依据, 包含三级主要分类单位, 即植被型(高级单位)、群系(中级单位)和群丛(低级单位); 在三个主要分类单位之上分别增加辅助单位植被型组、群系组和群丛组, 在植被型和群系之下主要根据群落的生态差异和实际需要可再增加植被亚型或亚群系。修订方案包含了森林、灌丛、草本植被(草地)、荒漠、高山冻原与稀疏植被、沼泽与水生植被(湿地)、农业植被、城市植被和无植被地段9个植被型组, 划分为48个植被型(含30个自然植被型、12个农业植被型、5个城市植被型和无植被地段)。自然植被中有23个植被型进一步划分出了81个植被亚型。     

地被植物对广东常绿阔叶林土壤养分的指示作用

为了解地被植物群落对土壤养分的响应和指示作用,利用指示种分析(ISA)法研究了广东常绿阔叶林地被植物与土壤养分的关系。结果表明,速效氮(AN)、速效磷(AP)、速效钾(AK)和有机质(OM)的综合作用对地被植物分布有显著影响(P0.05),且以速效磷有机质速效钾速效氮。地被植物的组成与分布在不同AP和OM梯度中均有显著差异(P 0.05),但在不同AK和AN梯度中差异不显著。土壤AN≤270 mg/kg的指示种是广东蛇葡萄(Ampelopsis cantoniensis)和油点草(Tricyrtis macropoda),270～360 mg/kg的指示种是狗骨柴(Tricalysia dubia);AP≤2 mg/kg的指示种是华山姜(Alpinia chinensis);AK≤100mg/kg的指示种是赤楠蒲桃(Syzygiumbuxifolium),AK为100～150mg/kg的指示种是十字苔草(Carexcruciate),AK150 mg/kg的指示种是金钗凤尾蕨(Pterisfauriei);OM 0.8%的指示种是箬竹(Indocalamustessellatus),OM≤0.6%的指示种是华山姜(Alpinia chinensis)和蔓胡颓子(Elaeagnus glabra),OM为0.6%～0.8%的指示种是豆腐柴(Premna microphlla)。利用有效的地被植物调查方式来监测森林的土壤状况为森林经营管理及土壤健康评价带来方便。地被植物指示种对土壤养分的响应不但能为研究地的立地条件提供理论支撑,还能为该物种的人工栽培提供理论依据,这对于生物多样性保育、生境恢复的引种栽培有重要意义。     

Species coexistence in resource-limited patterned ecosystems is facilitated by the interplay of spatial self-organisation and intraspecific competition

The exploration of mechanisms that enable species coexistence under competition for a sole limiting resource is widespread across ecology. Two examples of such facilitative processes are intraspecific competition and spatial self-organisation. These processes determine the outcome of competitive dynamics in many resource-limited patterned ecosystems, classical examples of which include dryland vegetation patterns, intertidal mussel beds and subalpine ribbon forests. Previous theoretical investigations have explained coexistence within patterned ecosystems by making strong assumptions on the differences between species (e.g. contrasting dispersal behaviours or different functional responses to resource availability). In this paper, I show that the interplay between the detrimental effects of intraspecific competition and the facilitative nature of self-organisation forms a coexistence mechanism that does not rely on species-specific assumptions and captures coexistence across a wide range of the environmental stress gradient. I use a theoretical model that captures the interactions of two generic consumer species with an explicitly modelled resource to show that coexistence relies on a balance between species' colonisation abilities and their local competitiveness, provided intraspecific competition is sufficiently strong. Crucially, the requirements on species' self-limitation for coexistence to occur differ on opposite ends of the resource input spectrum. For low resource levels, coexistence is facilitated by strong intraspecific dynamics of the species superior in its colonisation abilities, but for larger volumes of resource input, strong intraspecific competition of the locally superior species enables coexistence. Results presented in this paper also highlight the importance of hysteresis in understanding tipping points, in particular extinction events. Finally, the theoretical framework provides insights into spatial species distributions within single patches, supporting verbal hypotheses on coexistence of herbaceous and woody species in dryland vegetation patterns and suggesting potential empirical tests in the context of other patterned ecosystems.     

基于遥感信息的黄土高原主要灌溉农业分布区生态安全特征

生态安全是区域经济社会可持续发展的重要保证。本研究基于2000—2018年间的遥感数据,系统分析了黄土高原4个主要灌溉农业分布区(银川平原、河套平原、汾河谷地和渭河平原)植被覆盖度(FVC)和遥感生态指数(RSEI)的变化特征。结果表明: 2000—2018年间,研究区FVC整体呈下降趋势,但4个不同灌溉农业分布区FVC变化趋势各异。研究区RSEI整体呈下降趋势,其中,银川平原和渭河平原的RSEI下降明显,分别下降0.06和0.07,河套平原的RSEI无明显变化,而汾河谷地的RSEI整体呈上升趋势。4个区域中,银川平原、汾河谷地的生态稳定性较差,河套平原的生态环境较稳定,而渭河平原的生态环境持续退化。研究结果对区域生态环境保护和农业可持续发展具有重要意义。     

基于地形梯度的黄河流域中段植被覆盖时空分异特征——以延安市为例

植被恢复是黄河流域生态保护和高质量发展的关键,深入研究植被的时空分异特征具有重要的现实意义。本研究以4期Landsat TM/OLI为遥感数据源,采用像元二分模型估算植被覆盖度,运用转移矩阵、地学信息图谱和重心迁移模型分析1988—2018年黄河流域中段延安市植被覆盖的时空演变特征;并结合地形数据,利用地形分布指数分析高程、坡度上植被覆盖的空间响应规律。结果表明: 研究期间,延安市植被覆盖呈北低南高的空间分布特征,植被覆盖受政策影响而大幅增高;1988—2018年,延安市植被变化模式以持续向好和稳定不变为主导,有50%的区域植被覆盖情况改善,83%的高植被覆盖区域保持稳定。在各高程和坡度等级上,高植被覆盖的分布优势度随时间变化而增大;在各坡度等级上,植被增加百分比和植被稳定性随坡度增加而增大。延安不同等级植被覆盖的迁移方向与植被覆盖整体的迁移趋势基本一致,总体向北偏西转移。延安植被建设已取得显著成效,但北部植被覆盖状况仍待提高,优化植被类型和结构是未来植被建设的重要方向。     

Canopy throughfall links canopy epiphytes to terrestrial vegetation in pristine conifer forests

To what extent does epiphytic community composition in boreal forests reflect soil nutrient status? To answer this question, we investigated potential links between terrestrial plants and lichen-dominated communities in Picea glauca x engelmannii canopies in south-central British Columbia. We combined original data on vegetational composition in the ground and tree layers with published data on elemental uptake in standardized transplants of the lichen Lobaria pumonaria affixed to the lower branches of studied trees. Procrustean association metrics revealed a significant concordance between community composition among the epiphytic and terrestrial vegetation, which was stronger in Mn-enriched conifer canopy settings, and weaker within the cation-enriched dripzones of adjacent Populus trees. We also found that the NMDS1-gradient for each vegetation layer was strongly correlated with base cations (and inversely with Mn) in canopy throughfall, as well as with soil and bark pH. We conclude that elemental composition in canopy throughfall forms a functional link between terrestrial and epiphytic vegetation.