Structural–functional approach to identify post-disturbance recovery indicators in forests from northwestern Patagonia: A tool to prevent state transitions

The disruption of the natural post-disturbance recovery process, either by changes in disturbance regime or by another disturbance, can trigger transitions to alternative degraded states. In a scenario of high disturbance pressure on ecological systems, it is essential to detect recovery indicators to define the period when the system needs more protection as well as the period when the system supports certain use pressure without affecting its resilience. Recovery indicators can be identified by non-linear changes in structural and functional variables. Fire largely modulates the dynamic and stability of plant communities worldwide, and is this the case in northwestern (NW) Patagonia. The ultimate goal of this study is to propose a structural–functional approach based on a reference system (i.e. chronosequence) as a tool to detect post-disturbance recovery indicators in forests from NW Patagonia. In NW Patagonia (40–42°S), we sampled 25 Austrocedrus chilensis and Nothofagus spp. communities differing in post-fire age (0.3–180 years). In each community we recorded structural (woody species cover and height, solar radiation, air temperature, relative humidity) and functional (annual recruitment of woody and tree species) attributes. We modeled these attributes in function of post-fire age and analized the relationship between a functional attribute and a Structural Recovery Index (SRI). Communities varying in time-since-last-fire were structurally and functionally different. Moreover, response variables showed non-linear changes along the chronosequence, allowing the selection of recovery indicators. We suggest to use vegetation variables instead of environmental variables as structural recovery indicators. Horizontal and Vertical Vegetation Heterogeneity indices provided the information necessary to describe vegetation spatial reorganization after fire. Tree species annual recruitment was a good indicator of the functional recovery of forest communities. The relationship between a functional attribute and SRI allowed us to detect phases with high- and low-risk of degradation during post-fire succession. High-risk phases (<36 years old) had the highest horizontal vegetation heterogeneity and scarce tree seedling density (<7000 seedlings ha⁻¹ year⁻¹). Whereas, low-risk phases (>36 years old) had the highest vertical vegetation heterogeneity and tree species seedling density (>10,000 seedlings ha⁻¹ year⁻¹). Due to the low structural–functional levels, communities at high-risk phases would be more vulnerable to antropic pressure (e.g. livestock raising, logging) than communities at low-risk phases. The proposed approach contributes to the sustainable management of forest communities because it allows to estimate the minimum structural–functional levels from which forest communities could be harvested.     

石羊河下游盐渍化弃耕地植被演替与土壤养分相关性分析

以石羊河下游不同年代盐渍化弃耕地自然群落为对象,利用优势种群的消长和土壤养分的动态变化进行相关性分析,研究退耕地群落演替与土壤养分之间的动态变化以及相互关系。结果表明:1)植被类型一般经历3个阶段:田间杂草→荒漠草本→荒漠灌木,但群落演替可分为4个阶段:藜+田旋花群落(1～2年)→骆驼蒿群落(3～10年)→苏枸杞+黄毛头群落(10～40年)→黄毛头群落(顶极群落);2)土壤养分在整个植被演替过程中一般经历消耗-积累-消耗3个阶段,但速效钾不存在初期消耗阶段,演替后期土壤养分处于消耗状态,并逐渐接近本区域自然植被土壤养分;3)由于前期土壤养分处于消耗阶段,骆驼蒿种群对土壤养分的贡献不明显,其中与速效磷之间呈显著负相关,与速效钾呈显著正相关;苏枸杞种群与土壤养分呈正相关,其中与有机质、全氮、30～60cm速效钾相关性显著;而黄毛头种群与土壤养分之间呈显著负相关。黄毛头具有较强的适应性,可作为盐渍化弃耕地上的适宜引种物种,以调控和加速植物群落演替。     

围栏放牧下土壤-植被碳密度空间分布格局

对围封13年且放牧的冷季高寒矮嵩草草甸,进行了从围栏入口到内部不同距离植被和土壤碳密度状况的调查.结果表明:1)入口到50 m植被现存碳密度平均为1298.0gC·m-2,60～180m有所下降(平均为997.3 g C·m-2),200～300 m反而升高(平均为1285.5 g C·m-2).当年净初级生产碳密度分布趋势与其相同,0～50 m、60 ～180 m和200～300 m平均分别为742.5、571.0和745.7 g C·m-2.这种分布趋势与放牧过程中绵羊觅食频度和强度有关.一般在中央地带放牧强度大,绵羊觅食时间长,边缘地带受围栏效应或围栏外环境因素影响,放牧强度相对较弱,一定程度上对植被生长发育起到了保护作用,使边缘地带植被碳密度得到提高.2)从围栏入口到草场内部土壤碳密度变化趋势表现复杂,入口到100 m增加,100～170 m减小,然后略有升高.土壤碳密度最高值出现在95 m处(15.42 g C·m-2),最低值出现在170 m处(14.12 gC· m-2).目前尚不清楚为何出现这种格局,但至少认为,土壤有机质的动态转化过程受多种因素影响,与植被碳密度相比具有一定的迟滞效应.具体如何影响有机质的动态转化及其迟滞效应,有待进一步研究.     

科尔沁沙地植被生产力对模拟增加降水和氮沉降的响应

采用随机区组设计,利用降水收集装置和地表施氮处理,模拟降水和氮沉降增加对科尔沁沙地典型小叶锦鸡儿群落植被生产力的影响.结果表明:降水量增加1/7,植被平均高度增加不明显,植被生物量增加了17.6%;降水量增加2/7,植被平均高度增加了23%,植被生物量增加了31.8%;模拟氮沉降处理的一年处理结果对植被生物量增加不明显;降水是影响沙地植被生产力的关键因素,植被生产力对降水量增加响应迅速,短期的氮沉降对植被生产力的影响不显著.     

淮南八公山区不同生境条件下的土壤动物类群比较

2010年3月—4月对淮南市八公山区4种生境土壤动物进行了调查,获得各类土壤动物1965只,隶属4门12纲27目。其中优势类群为膜翅目和近孔寡毛目,常见类群为等足目、鞘翅目幼虫、鞘翅目成虫、柄眼目、鳞翅目幼虫、蜘蛛目和山蛩目,其余类群为稀有类群。研究结果表明:植被类型对土壤动物群落的结构特征有一定影响,不同植被条件下土壤动物个体及群落类群数存在差异。土壤动物多样性与均匀度指数呈正相关,与优势度呈负相关。4种生境的土壤动物群落之间都达到了中等相似水平。从土壤动物群落数量的垂直分布来看,0 cm~5 cm土壤层数量最大,有明显的表聚现象。     

Relating rainfall and vegetation greenness to the biology of spur‐throated and Australian plague locusts

• 1 Rainfall and vegetation greenness are widely claimed to influence fat content and egg development in locusts. Body size, abdominal fat and egg length of spur‐throated Austracris guttulosa and Australian plague Chortoicetes terminifera locusts were related to the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI; a greenness indicator) to test these assumptions and quantify biological responses.
• 2 Cumulative rainfall was highly correlated with NDVI values of an area (25 × 25 km) surrounding the trap to which locusts were attracted. Catches of locusts were greater in hotter periods preceding rain, associated with an increase in NDVI indicative of brown (0.298) versus green (0.465) vegetation.
• 3 Pre‐overwintering descendent A. guttulosa were larger and fattier than post‐overwintering antecedents. Egg maturation of antecedents occurred coincident with increasing NDVI. Higher abdominal fat in pre‐overwintering locusts was positively associated with higher NDVI.
• 4 Male C. terminifera of two descendent generations were larger than their antecedents but only pre‐overwintering locusts were significantly fattier than their predecessors. Only pre‐overwintering females were significantly larger than their predecessors and no generation was significantly fattier than any other. Fat content was negatively correlated with egg maturation and differed significantly with NDVI, although strong and consistent relationships were not obtained.
• 5 The findings suggest that locust–environment interactions are species‐ and habitat‐specific. If A. guttulosa hoppers develop during periods when regional NDVI exceeds 0.4, fatter adults will arise. The elucidation of relationships between greenness, fat and egg development in C. terminifera is unlikely using NDVI values from areas comprising mixtures of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous vegetation.

     

Oceanographic anomalies and sea‐level rise drive mangroves inland in the Pacific coast of Mexico

Question: Although mangrove forests are generally regarded as highly threatened, some studies have shown that mangrove canopies in the Pacific coast of Mexico have been increasing in recent decades. We investigated the possible causes driving this reported mangrove expansion. Location: The mangrove lagoons of Magdalena Bay in Baja California, Mexico. Methods: We used 50‐year‐old aerial photographs and 24‐year‐old satellite images to compare long‐term vegetation change, surveyed a coastal vegetation transect to analyse flooding levels, compiled six decades of tidal and oceanographic information, as well as hurricane data to analyse changes in storm frequency or sea‐level conditions, and used isotopic analysis to date the age of trees along the gradient. Results: A significant increase in mangrove cover has occurred in backwaters of the lagoons during the last 40 years, and especially during the El Niño anomalies of the 1980s and 1990s, while at the same time the mangrove fringe has been receding. Conclusions: The observed change can be attributed to the combined action of the warm surface waters of El Niño events and sea‐level rise. Jointly, these two effects are sufficient to flood large areas of previously non‐flooded salt flats, dispersing mangrove seedlings inland. The inland expansion of mangroves, however, does not ease conservation concerns, as it is the seaward fringes, and not the inland margins, that provide the most valuable environmental services for fisheries and coastal protection.     

Dealing with scarce data to understand how environmental gradients and propagule pressure shape fine‐scale alien distribution patterns on coastal dunes

Questions: On sandy coastal habitats, factors related to substrate and to wind action vary along the sea–inland ecotone, forming a marked directional disturbance and stress gradient. Further, input of propagules of alien plant species associated to touristic exploitation and development is intense. This has contributed to establishment and spread of aliens in coastal systems. Records of alien species in databases of such heterogeneous landscapes remain scarce, posing a challenge for statistical modelling. We address this issue and attempt to shed light on the role of environmental stress/disturbance gradients and propagule pressure on invasibility of plant communities in these typical model systems. Location: Sandy coasts of Lazio (Central Italy). Methods: We proposed an innovative methodology to deal with low prevalence of alien occurrence in a data set and high cost of field‐based sampling by taking advantage, through predictive modelling, of the strong interrelation between vegetation and abiotic features in coastal dunes. We fitted generalized additive models to analyse (1) overall patterns of alien occurrence and spread and (2) specific patterns of the most common alien species recorded. Conclusion: Even in the presence of strong propagule pressure, variation in local abiotic conditions can explain differences in invasibility within a local environment, and intermediate levels of natural disturbance and stress offer the best conditions for spread of alien species. However, in our model system, propagule pressure is actually the main determinant of alien species occurrence and spread. We demonstrated that extending the information of environmental features measured in a subsample of vegetation plots through predictive modelling allows complex questions in invasion biology to be addressed without requiring disproportionate funding and sampling effort.     

Phenology shifts at start vs. end of growing season in temperate vegetation over the Northern Hemisphere for the period 1982–2008

Changes in vegetative growing seasons are dominant indicators of the dynamic response of ecosystems to climate change. Therefore, knowledge of growing seasons over the past decades is essential to predict ecosystem changes. In this study, the long‐term changes in the growing seasons of temperate vegetation over the Northern Hemisphere were examined by analyzing satellite‐measured normalized difference vegetation index and reanalysis temperature during 1982–2008. Results showed that the length of the growing season (LOS) increased over the analysis period; however, the role of changes at the start of the growing season (SOS) and at the end of the growing season (EOS) differed depending on the time period. On a hemispheric scale, SOS advanced by 5.2 days in the early period (1982–1999) but advanced by only 0.2 days in the later period (2000–2008). EOS was delayed by 4.3 days in the early period, and it was further delayed by another 2.3 days in the later period. The difference between SOS and EOS in the later period was due to less warming during the preseason (January–April) before SOS compared with the magnitude of warming in the preseason (June–September) before EOS. At a regional scale, delayed EOS in later periods was shown. In North America, EOS was delayed by 8.1 days in the early period and delayed by another 1.3 days in the later period. In Europe, the delayed EOS by 8.2 days was more significant than the advanced SOS by 3.2 days in the later period. However, in East Asia, the overall increase in LOS during the early period was weakened in the later period. Admitting regional heterogeneity, changes in hemispheric features suggest that the longer‐lasting vegetation growth in recent decades can be attributed to extended leaf senescence in autumn rather than earlier spring leaf‐out.     

Relationships between phenology,radiation and precipitation in the Amazon region

In tropical areas, Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) still have deficiencies in simulating the timing of vegetation phenology. To start addressing this problem, standard Fourier‐based methods are applied to aerosol screened monthly remotely sensed phenology time series (Enhanced Vegetation Index, EVI) and two major driving factors of phenology: solar radiation and precipitation (for March 2000 through December 2006 over northern South America). At 1 × 1 km scale using, power (or variance) spectra on good quality aerosol screened time series, annual cycles in EVI are detected across 58.24% of the study area, the strongest (largest amplitude) occurring in the savanna. Terra Firme forest have weak but significant annual cycles in comparison with savannas because of the heterogeneity of vegetation and nonsynchronous phenological events within 1 × 1 km scale pixels. Significant annual cycles for radiation and precipitation account for 86% and 90% of the region, respectively, with different spatial patterns to phenology. Cross‐spectral analysis was used to compare separately radiation with phenology/EVI, precipitation with phenology/EVI and radiation with precipitation. Overall the majority of the Terra Firme forest appears to have radiation as the driver of phenology (either radiation is in phase or leading phenology/EVI at the annual scale). These results are in agreement with previous research, although in Acre, central and eastern Peru and northern Bolivia there is a coexistence of ‘in phase’ precipitation over Terra Firme forest. In contrast in most areas of savanna precipitation appears to be a driver and savanna areas experiencing an inverse (antiphase) relationship between radiation and phenology is consistent with inhibited grassland growth due to soil moisture limitation. The resulting maps provide a better spatial understanding of phenology–driver relationships offering a bench mark to parameterize ecological models.