栓皮栎叶片δ13C和δ15N的纬向趋势及其影响因子

以东亚广布种栓皮栎为例,通过对南北样带(26°-40° N)上7个群体的调查取样,并结合2个生活史阶段,探讨栓皮栎碳氮同位素比值随纬度环境的变异规律.结果表明: 在纬向梯度上,栓皮栎叶片δ¹³C和δ¹⁵N随纬度的增加分别呈现非线性的增加和下降趋势,且成年树叶片δ¹³C和δ¹⁵N均显著高于幼树;同时,树龄和纬度对叶片δ¹⁵N和δ¹³C均无显著交互作用,表明栓皮栎幼树和成年树纬向环境变化的响应较为一致.随机森林模型结果显示,栓皮栎叶片δ¹⁵N主要受土壤养分,如土壤有机质、磷和氮含量的影响,而叶片δ¹³C主要受水分因子,如空气相对湿度、降水量等的影响.     

不同径级红松径向生长对气候变化的响应

运用树木年轮气候学方法,研究原始阔叶红松林分布区内白石砬子自然保护区(40.9° N)、长白山自然保护区(42.4° N)、凉水自然保护区(47.2° N)和胜山自然保护区(49.4° N)4个纬度样地的2个径级红松径向生长对气候变化的响应,分析不同径级红松对气候因子响应的异同,以及影响不同纬度红松径向生长的关键气候因子,探讨气候变化显著的40多年中红松径向生长的变化动态.结果表明: 2个径级红松对气候因子的响应具有很大的相似性,但是小径级(胸径为10～20 cm)红松对当年生长季的平均最低气温以及上一年的气候因子更敏感,而大径级(胸径>40 cm)红松对当年生长季的平均最高气温和平均相对湿度更敏感.影响4个纬度样地红松径向生长的关键气候因子存在一定差异:在最南端的白石砬子自然保护区是当年生长季的季均气温和季均最高气温;最北端的胜山自然保护区是低温因子,包括所有季节的平均最低气温、冬季的平均最高气温,以及除上一年生长季末期和当年生长季以外所有季节的平均气温;中间纬度的长白山自然保护区是当年生长季和生长季末期的帕尔默干旱指数(PDSI)和当年生长季的降水量;凉水自然保护区是当年生长季的平均气温.在气温不断上升的40多年,最南端的2个径级红松径向生长均显著下降,最北端均显著上升,中间2个纬度样地变化均不显著.     

Quaternary climate instability is correlated with patterns of population genetic variability in Bombus huntii

Climate oscillations have left a significant impact on the patterns of genetic diversity observed in numerous taxa. In this study, we examine the effect of Quaternary climate instability on population genetic variability of a bumble bee pollinator species, Bombus huntii in western North America. Pleistocene and contemporary B. huntii habitat suitability (HS) was estimated with an environmental niche model (ENM) by associating 1,035 locality records with 10 bioclimatic variables. To estimate genetic variability, we genotyped 380 individuals from 33 localities at 13 microsatellite loci. Bayesian inference was used to examine population structure with and without a priori specification of geographic locality. We compared isolation by distance (IBD) and isolation by resistance (IBR) models to examine population differentiation within and among the Bayesian inferred genetic clusters. Furthermore, we tested for the effect of environmental niche stability (ENS) on population genetic diversity with linear regression. As predicted, high‐latitude B. huntii habitats exhibit low ENS when compared to low‐latitude habitats. Two major genetic clusters of B. huntii inhabit western North America: (a) a north genetic cluster predominantly distributed north of 28°N and (b) a south genetic cluster distributed south of 28°N. In the south genetic cluser, both IBD and IBR models are significant. However, in the north genetic cluster, IBD is significant but not IBR. Furthermore, the IBR models suggest that low‐latitude montane populations are surrounded by habitat with low HS, possibly limiting dispersal, and ultimately gene flow between populations. Finally, we detected high genetic diversity across populations in regions that have been climatically unstable since the last glacial maximum (LGM), and low genetic diversity across populations in regions that have been climatically stable since the LGM. Understanding how species have responded to climate change has the potential to inform management and conservation decisions of both ecological and economic concerns.     

CONTRASTING PATTERNS OF HERITABLE GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN SHELL MORPHOLOGY AND GROWTH POTENTIAL IN THE MARINE GASTROPOD BEMBICIUM VITTATUM: EVIDENCE FROM FIELD EXPERIMENTS

Similar phenotypes do not always imply similar genotypes. In species distributed over a broad latitudinal range, geographical variation in morphological and life-history traits may reflect very different relations between genotypic and environmental effects on these traits. Patterns of selection among latitudinally separated sites may minimize phenotypic differences in life-history traits but promote phenotypic differences in form. Thus, for example, latitudinal variation in temperature often leads to genetically based metabolic differences that minimize differences in growth rate among populations at different latitudes (countergradient variation). However, variation in habitat experienced by the same populations may promote genetically based differences in shell form (cogradient variation). Few attempts have been made to assess simultaneously such mosaic effects of natural selection on the genetic basis of variation in both morphological and life-history traits among geographically separated populations. I quantified the extent to which widely separated populations of the rocky shore marine gastropod Bembicium vittatum exhibited genetic differences in shell shape, shell pattern, and growth rate. Bembicium vittatum occurs naturally at only three widely separated locations on the Western Australian coast. Individuals were transplanted from all three locations to a latitudinally intermediate site, where they were released in different pairwise combinations and allowed to reproduce. F₁ offspring from crosses between same- or different-source parents were identified using allozyme markers. When grown in a common environment, offspring from same-source parents exhibited similar differences in shell shape and pattern, but dramatic differences in growth rates, compared to native populations. Genetic variation therefore exists for all three traits. Growth rates in the common environment were positively correlated with latitude of the source population, confirming the existence of countergradient variation for growth associated with metabolic compensation. In addition, for both shell shape and growth rate, hybrids exhibited phenotypes roughly midway between the same-source parents, suggesting that genetic differences have a large additive component. In contrast, when one parent had pigmented spots, the offspring also had spots, suggesting a strong dominance component to the genetic basis of shell pattern. Genetic differences therefore yield different morphological phenotypes but similar life-history phenotypes, among latitudinally distant populations, and confirm a pattern of mosaic evolution in B. vittatum.     

Stoichiometric characteristics of carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus in Phyllostachys edulis forests of China

Aims Stoichiometric ratios of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are important characteristics of the ecological processes and functions. Studies on population ecological stoichiometry can refine the content of flora chemometrics, determine the limited nutrient, and provide data for process-based modeling over large scale. Phyllostachys edulis is an important forest type, whose area accounts for 74% of total bamboo forest area in Southern China. However, little is known about the ecological stoichiometric in P. edulis. This study aimed to reveal C:N, C:P and N:P stoichiometry characteristics of the “plant-soil-litter” continuum and to provide a better understanding nutrient cycling and stability mechanisms in P. edulis forest in China. Methods The data were collected from the published literature containing C、N、P content in leaf or surface soil (0-20 cm) or littefall in P. edulis forests. Important findings 1) The leaf C, N, P content were estimated at 478.30 mg·g^-1, 22.20 mg·g^-1, 1.90 mg·g^-1 in P. edulis, and the corresponding C: N, C: P and N: P were 26.80, 299.60 and 14.40, respectively. Soil C, N, and P content in 0-20 cm were 21.53 mg·g^-1, 1.66 mg·g^-1, 0.41 mg·g^-1, with ratios of 14.20 for C:N, 66.74 for C:P and 4.28 for N:P. The C, N and P contents were 438.49 mg·g^-1, 13.39 mg·g^-1, 0.86 mg·g^-1 for litterfall, with the litter C:N, C:P and N:P being 25.53, 665.67, 22.55, respectively. 2) In the plant-soil-litter system in P. edulis forest, leaf had higher C:N, litter had higher C:P and N:P, while soil were the lowest. The N, P resorption rate was 39.68% and 54.74%, indicating that P. edulis forest growth and development was constrained by P or by both of N and P in China. 3) N content and N:P in leaf showed a tendency to increase with latitude, while the C:N of leaf declined with latitude. N:P of leaf increased with longitude, but the P content and the C:N of leaf showed a opposite trend. C: N of soil increased with longitude, whereas the N content of soil declined longitude. The N content of litter declined with longitude. 4) The leaf N content was negatively correlated with mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation, but being more sensitive to temperature than precipitation. The positive correlations between N content and latitude support “Temperature-Plant Physiological” hypothesis, reflecting an adaptive strategy to environmental conditions.     

Isotopic insights into methane production,oxidation, and emissions in Arctic polygon tundra

Arctic wetlands are currently net sources of atmospheric CH₄. Due to their complex biogeochemical controls and high spatial and temporal variability, current net CH₄ emissions and gross CH₄ processes have been difficult to quantify, and their predicted responses to climate change remain uncertain. We investigated CH₄ production, oxidation, and surface emissions in Arctic polygon tundra, across a wet‐to‐dry permafrost degradation gradient from low‐centered (intact) to flat‐ and high‐centered (degraded) polygons. From 3 microtopographic positions (polygon centers, rims, and troughs) along the permafrost degradation gradient, we measured surface CH₄ and CO₂ fluxes, concentrations and stable isotope compositions of CH₄ and DIC at three depths in the soil, and soil moisture and temperature. More degraded sites had lower CH₄ emissions, a different primary methanogenic pathway, and greater CH₄ oxidation than did intact permafrost sites, to a greater degree than soil moisture or temperature could explain. Surface CH₄ flux decreased from 64 nmol m^?2 s^?1 in intact polygons to 7 nmol m^?2 s^?1 in degraded polygons, and stable isotope signatures of CH₄ and DIC showed that acetate cleavage dominated CH₄ production in low‐centered polygons, while CO₂ reduction was the primary pathway in degraded polygons. We see evidence that differences in water flow and vegetation between intact and degraded polygons contributed to these observations. In contrast to many previous studies, these findings document a mechanism whereby permafrost degradation can lead to local decreases in tundra CH₄ emissions.     

Low but contrasting neutral genetic differentiation shaped by winter temperature in European great tits

Gene flow is usually thought to reduce genetic divergence and impede local adaptation by homogenising gene pools between populations. However, evidence for local adaptation and phenotypic differentiation in highly mobile species, experiencing high levels of gene flow, is emerging. Assessing population genetic structure at different spatial scales is thus a crucial step towards understanding mechanisms underlying intraspecific differentiation and diversification. Here, we studied the population genetic structure of a highly mobile species – the great tit Parus major – at different spatial scales. We analysed 884 individuals from 30 sites across Europe including 10 close‐by sites (< 50 km), using 22 microsatellite markers. Overall we found a low but significant genetic differentiation among sites (F_ST = 0.008). Genetic differentiation was higher, and genetic diversity lower, in south‐western Europe. These regional differences were statistically best explained by winter temperature. Overall, our results suggest that great tits form a single patchy metapopulation across Europe, in which genetic differentiation is independent of geographical distance and gene flow may be regulated by environmental factors via movements related to winter severity. This might have important implications for the evolutionary trajectories of sub‐populations, especially in the context of climate change, and calls for future investigations of local differences in costs and benefits of philopatry at large scales.     

Altitudinal patterns of moth diversity in tropical and subtropical Australian rainforests

Altitudinal gradients are an excellent study tool to help understand the mechanisms shaping community assembly. We established a series of altitudinal gradients along the east coast of Australia to describe how the distribution of a hyper‐diverse herbivore group (night‐flying Lepidoptera) changes across an environmental gradient in subtropical and tropical rainforests. Two transects were in subtropical rainforest in the same bioregion, one in south‐east Queensland (28.7°S) and one in north east New South Wales (29.7°S). Two were in tropical rainforest, one in mid‐east Queensland (21.1°S) and one in the Wet Tropics of northern Queensland (17.5°S). Replicate plots were established in altitudinal bands separated by 200 m. Canopy and understorey moths were sampled at the beginning and end of the wet season using automatic Pennsylvania light traps. We sorted a total of 93 400 individuals, belonging to 3035 species. The two subtropical transects in the same region showed similar patterns of turnover across altitude, with the most distinctive assemblage occurring at the highest altitude. Moth assemblages in the tropical transects tended to show distinct ‘lowland’ and ‘upland’ communities. For species that were common across several of the transects, many were found at lower altitudes in the subtropics and higher altitudes in the tropics, suggesting they are sensitive to environmental conditions, and track their physiological envelopes across latitudes. These results suggest ubiquitous altitudinal stratification in tropical and subtropical Australian rainforests. The marked response of species to latitude and altitude demonstrates they are sensitive to climatic variables and can be used as indicators to understand future community responses to climate change.     

Calling phenology and detectability of a threatened amphibian (Litoria olongburensis) in ephemeral wetlands varies along a latitudinal cline: Implications for management

Amphibian reproductive biology and activity are highly sensitive to environmental cues. For amphibian conservation in the face of climate change, a clear priority is to investigate impacts of variable weather on breeding activity and detectability. This study assessed variation in the phenology, intensity and detectability of calling for a threatened temporary wetland breeding species, Litoria olongburensis. Acoustic and visual surveys were conducted monthly from August 2009 to July 2011 over the species latitudinal range in eastern Australia. Calling phenology of L. olongburensis varied spatially and temporally within and among latitudinal clusters. Detectability of frogs also varied among months and transects, and also with the type of survey conducted (visual vs. acoustic). Air temperature was a strong predictor for the onset of the calling season (early spring); however, peaks in calling abundances were primarily driven by monthly accumulated rainfall. The duration of the calling season varied among latitudinal clusters, becoming narrower moving south, reflecting clinal variation in weather patterns. This study presents a framework for amphibian species management using a combination of survey techniques and the climatic conditions influencing detectability. Applied along the latitudinal gradient, it provides data for predicting the likely impacts of climate change on amphibian activity and reproduction.