CO2 enrichment accelerates successional development of an understory plant community

Aims Rising concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide ([CO₂]) may influence forest successional development and species composition of understory plant communities by altering biomass production of plant species of functional groups. Here, we describe how elevated [CO₂] (eCO₂) affects aboveground biomass within the understory community of a temperate deciduous forest at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) facility in eastern Tennessee, USA. We asked if (i) CO₂ enrichment affected total understory biomass and (ii) whether total biomass responses could be explained by changes in understory species composition or changes in relative abundance of functional groups through time.Materials and Methods The FACE experiment started in 1998 with three rings receiving ambient [CO₂] (aCO₂) and two rings receiving eCO₂. From 2001 to 2003, we estimated species-specific, woody versus herbaceous and total aboveground biomass by harvesting four 1 × 0.5-m subplots within the established understory plant community in each FACE plot. In 2008, we estimated herbaceous biomass as previously but used allometric relationships to estimate woody biomass across two 5 × 5-m quadrats in each FACE plot.Important findings Across years, aboveground biomass of the understory community was on average 25% greater in eCO₂ than in aCO₂ plots. We could not detect differences in plant species composition between aCO₂ and eCO₂ treatments. However, we did observe shifts in the relative abundance of plant functional groups, which reflect important structural changes in the understory community. In 2001–03, little of the understory biomass was in woody species; herbaceous species made up 94% of the total understory biomass across [CO₂] treatments. Through time, woody species increased in importance, mostly in eCO₂, and in 2008, the contribution of herbaceous species to total understory biomass was 61% in aCO₂ and only 33% in eCO₂ treatments. Our results suggest that rising atmospheric [CO₂] could accelerate successional development and have longer term impact on forest dynamics.     

Quantifying species composition in root mixtures using two methods: near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy and plant wax markers

Understanding of plant interactions is greatly limited by our ability to identify and quantify roots belonging to different species. We proposed and compared two methods for estimating the root biomass proportion of each species in artificial mixtures: near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) and plant wax markers. Two sets of artificial root mixtures composed of two or three herbaceous species were prepared. The proportion of root material of each species in mixtures was estimated from NIRS spectral data (i) and the concentration patterns of n-alkanes (ii), n-alcohols (iii), and n-alkanes +n-alcohols combined (iv). For each data set, calibration equations were developed using multivariate statistical models. The botanical composition of root mixtures was predicted well for all the species considered. The accuracy varied slightly among methods: alkanes < alcohols = alkanes + alcohols < NIRS. Correlation coefficients between predicted and actual root proportions ranged from 0.89 to 0.99 for alkanes + alcohols predictions and from 0.97 to 0.99 for NIRS predictions. These two methods provide promising potential for understanding allocation patterns and competitive interactions.     

高山草甸牧草内生细菌研究

正内生细菌对其寄主植物有防病、促生、固氮等多方面的有益生物学作用,能够增强植物抗病和抗逆能力,近年来已成为生防菌剂研制开发的重要资源。针茅属Stipa为多年生草本植物,主要分布于我国北方干旱地区,是高寒草甸类草地的优势牧草,在退化草地的生态系统恢复中也起着重要作用。王玉琴等发表的论文《针茅内生细菌菌株265ZY4的鉴定及其生物学功能》~[1]研究了分离自针茅Stipa capillata的内生细菌菌株265ZY4对马铃薯坏疽病、     

铅对山西省路域优势草本植物生长的影响及铅累积特征

采用温室盆栽试验,研究了不同浓度铅(0、500、1000、1500mg.kg-1)对14种山西省路域优势草本植物生长的影响及其铅吸收积累特征.结果表明:在14种草本植物中,随着铅浓度的增大,反枝苋和高丹草表现出明显的中毒症状,其他12种植物的株高和生物量与对照相比均无显著降低,表现出对铅污染具有一定的耐受性;藜和新麦草植株的地上部铅含量最低,各浓度铅处理下平均值分别为12.70和11.33mg.kg-1,地上部与根的铅含量比(S/R)最低,分别为0.12和0.10,表明二者为低积累植物,可用于铅污染土壤的植被恢复;红叶苋和绿叶苋植株地上部的铅迁移量最高,1500mg.kg-1铅处理下每百株铅迁移总量分别为53.37和45.29mg,可作为修复铅污染土壤的先锋植物.     

Responses of vegetation and soils to three grazing management regimes in a semi‐arid highland mixed crop‐livestock system

Three grazing regimes [Cut‐and‐carry (CC), seasonal grazing (SG) and continuous grazing (CG)] currently applied in Tigrai region of northern Ethiopia were compared to identify the best grazing management in key native vegetation and soil attributes. More than 50% of the desirable species such as Andropogon, Cynodon and Phalaris spp were located in the CC and SG regimes. During the rainy season, the CC regime produced 1.7 and 2.7 more biomass than the SG and CG regimes, respectively. Herbaceous basal cover was 6.8 times more in the CC than in the CG regime. During the rainy season, herbaceous species diversity and richness were the least in the CG regime but similar in the CC and SG regimes. This similarity, however, changed during the dry season when the SG regime is grazed by livestock that led to a reduction in diversity. These results suggest that CC is superior to the traditional CG, but not always necessarily superior to the SG. The SG regime improved soil P status while the CG regime affected soil bulk density and total N negatively. The predominantly native vegetation grazing systems in Tigrai region can be improved cost effectively through cut‐and‐carry and seasonal grazing.     

水稻品种抗褐飞虱不同生物型的稳定性

采用Tai氏方法分析估测12个水稻品种抗褐飞虱不同生物型的稳定性,以期为选育抗虫稳定性好的水稻品种提供较为有效的分析和监测方法.结果表明：光照强度、苗龄、施氮量对不同水稻品种对褐飞虱不同生物型的抗性表现及抗性稳定性有明显影响.抗褐飞虱生物型Ⅱ的品种中,RHT、RP1976-18-6-4-2、Ptb33的抗性较稳定,IR56的抗性不稳定,IR36、ASD7的抗性极不稳定;感褐飞虱生物型Ⅱ的品种中,TN1的感虫性稳定,桂华占、佛山油占、IR26的感虫性较稳定,国粳4号、Mudgo的感虫性不稳定.抗褐飞虱孟加拉型的品种中,RP1976-18-6-4-2、RHT、Ptb33的抗性不稳定,IR56的抗性极不稳定;感褐飞虱孟加拉型的品种中,桂华占、佛山油占、IR26的感虫性稳定;TN1、IR36的感虫性不稳定;国粳4号、Mudgo、ASD7的感虫性极不稳定.     

Temporal changes of mangrove vegetation boundaries in Amazônia: Application of GIS and remote sensing techniques

The present work analyses a 25-year timeseries of radar and satellite images, andidentifies areas with losses and gains ofvegetation coverage along 166 km of Para'scoastline (North Brazil) and in the innerparts of the Bragança peninsula. Thegeomorphology of this region hassignificantly changed in recent years. Aresult of these changes has been a retreatof the mangrove vegetation along thecoastline, mainly due to landward sandmigration, which covers the mudflat andasphyxiates the vegetation. Image analysissuggests that the loss of vegetationcoverage has been the dominating process inthe last 25 years, occurring on 42% ofthe Bragança coastline and adjacentareas. Vegetation has remained stable along 39% of the coastline, while mudsedimentation has allowed mangrovedevelopment along 19% of it. On the otherhand, during this period of time, mangroveshave invaded 3.4 km² ( 38%) of theelevated herbaceous flats in the highestsectors of the Bragança peninsula.Despite other possible causes for mangrovedeath along the coastline, such as littoraldrift currents or cyclical changes incoastal sediment dynamics, the invasion ofmangrove into herbaceous elevated flats inthe central peninsula cannot be attributedto these factors. The current dynamics ofvegetation coverage change seem to becompatible with a long-term trend relatedto the predicted rates of sea-level rise.     

不同泥沙埋深对几种一年生草本枯落物分解及养分动态特征的影响

为探究三峡消落带泥沙淤积条件下一年生草本枯落物的分解及养分变化特征,通过模拟实验,采用分解袋法,研究不同泥沙埋深对4种一年生草本分解及养分动态的影响。所选择的三峡消落带4种一年生优势草本植物包括马唐(Digitaria sanguinalis)、稗(Echinochloa crusgali)、狼杷草(Bidens tripartita)、苍耳(Xanthium sibiricum),设置了无掩埋(0 cm)、中度掩埋(5 cm)和深度掩埋(10 cm)3个泥沙掩埋深度,试验周期为180 d。结果表明:(1)在整个实验期间,4种一年生草本枯落物的分解速率均呈现先快后慢的特点,与0 cm泥沙埋深处理相比,5、10 cm埋深下4种一年生草本枯落物的分解速率均显著降低;(2)在分解结束时,4种一年生草本枯落物C含量变化不大,P元素处于释放状态,而在泥沙掩埋下N元素处于富集状态;(3)除马唐和稗枯落物的P含量变化外,4种一年生草本枯落物C、N、P含量均表现为0 cm掩埋处理显著低于5、10 cm处理组;相反,4种一年生草本枯落物K含量则表现为0 cm掩埋处理显著高于5、10 cm处理组。研究表明...     

DNA barcoding herbaceous and woody plant species at a subalpine forest dynamics plot in Southwest China

Although DNA barcoding has been widely used to identify plant species composition in temperate and tropical ecosystems, relatively few studies have used DNA barcodes to document both herbaceous and woody components of forest plot. A total of 201 species (72 woody species and 129 herbaceous species) representing 135 genera distributed across 64 families of seed plants were collected in a 25 ha CForBio subalpine forest dynamics plot. In total, 491 specimens were screened for three DNA regions of the chloroplast genome (rbcL, matK, and trnH‐psbA) as well as the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA. We quantified species resolution for each barcode separately or in combination using a ML tree‐based method. Amplification and sequencing success were highest for rbcL, followed by trnH‐psbA, which performed better than ITS and matK. The rbcL + ITS barcode had slightly higher species resolution rates (88.60%) compared with rbcL + matK (86.60%) and rbcL + trnH‐psbA (86.01%). The addition of trnH‐psbA or ITS to the rbcL + matK barcode only marginally increased species resolution rates, although in combination the four barcodes had the highest discriminatory power (90.21%). The situations where DNA barcodes did not discriminate among species were typically associated with higher numbers of co‐occurring con‐generic species. In addition, herbaceous species were much better resolved than woody species. Our study represents one of the first applications of DNA barcodes in a subalpine forest dynamics plot and contributes to our understanding of patterns of genetic divergence among woody and herbaceous plant species.     

上海大金山岛植被功能组成对草本植物、土壤动物和细菌多样性的影响

揭示植物群落对土壤动物和微生物多样性的上行调控效应有助于理解不同营养级生物多样性的维持机制。以往的研究主要集中在植物物种多样性对土壤动物和微生物多样性的影响,而关于植被功能组成自下而上的影响研究较少。以上海大金山岛13个植物群落为对象,在分析落叶木本植物占比与树木和草本物种多样性,以及土壤动物和细菌多样性的关系基础上,利用结构方程模型区分了落叶木本植物占比对土壤动物和细菌多样性的直接与间接影响效应。结果显示：落叶木本植物占比不仅分别对草本物种多样性和土壤动物多样性分别产生直接正效应和负效应（P<0.01;P<0.05）,也会通过草本物种的级联效应间接的降低地下土壤细菌多样性（P<0.10）。然而,木本植物多样性仅与草本物种多样性显著正关联（P<0.10）,与土壤动物和细菌多样性无显著关联（P>0.10）。该研究结果表明,相较于木本植物多样性,落叶植物占比在中亚热带北缘森林生态系统不同营养级生物多样性维持格局中扮演着更为重要的角色。