南方沿海地区城市水土流失类型及特征—以珠海市三灶区为例

通过野外实地考察结合遥感技术手段开展珠海市三灶区城市水土流失重点调查。三灶区水土流失类型以人为侵蚀为主,主要是由开发平台建设、取土采石和修筑公路造成,侵蚀类型复杂多样,多沿交通道路两侧以及城市建成区周遍地带分布,侵蚀模数相差很大,最大侵蚀模数和最小侵蚀模数之间相差3个数量级,充分反映了城市水土流失的特点。     

土壤侵蚀预报模型中的植被覆盖与管理因子研究进展

植被覆盖和土地管理措施是土支离破碎中侵蚀的主要抑制因素之一,通用土壤流失方程（USLE）中的植被覆盖与田间管理因子（C）是评价这种抑制作用的有效指标,并被广泛采用和深入研究。我国在这方面的研究还不能满足土壤侵蚀预报和水土保持规划的要求,在系统回顾该因子的研究历史的基础上,介绍了USLE和RUSLE中C因子估计方法及其不断改进和完善的过程,并概述了中国的覆盖与田间管理因子的研究进展。此外,总结国内在（C）因子估计值以及植被覆盖度,地面覆盖物和植被根系对土壤侵蚀的影响等方面研究成果,分析了目前我国覆盖与田间管理因子研究中存在的3个方面问题,并提出了前景展望。     

Mycorrhizal associations in the Patagonian steppe,Argentina

The mycorrhizal status of plant species in north-west Patagonia was examined. Communities representative of Patagonian steppe and marshes were compared with respect to the mycorrhizal status of their species.Most of both native and exotic plant species sampled were arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM). The percentage of species with mycorrhizal association was higher for perennial herbs and shrubs than for annual herbs. The higher ratio of mycorrhizal/nonmycorrhizal (NM) species found for dicotyledons than for monocotyledons, could reflect the presence of a considerable number of NM monocotyledons in the marsh. The mycorrhizal status of plants differed slightly between the steppe and the marsh. In the steppe, native AM species were more frequent than in the marsh. In contrast, in the marsh, the NM species were proportionally more represented than in the steppe. The Juncaceae and Cyperaceae, which include hydrohytic NM plants, accounted for many of these differences. Moreover, the dominant species in the marshes, Juncus arcticus, is a NM species.In the present study, most of species belonging to the same taxonomic family tended to have the same mycorrhizal associations, in agreement with studies on plants from other regions. Exceptions to this general behaviour were observed in the families Cyperaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Berberidaceae and Amaryllidaceae. The most represented families in which mycorrhizal behaviour differed between species of the same family were Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Poaceae. Senecio neaei (Asteraceae) and Boopis australis (Calyceraceae) showed facultative mycorrhizal behaviour.     

Allozyme polymorphisms in tetraploid potato gene pools and the effect on human selection

The need for broadening a crop’s genetic base may be determined by comparing allele frequencies within the gene pools of farmer selections in their centers of diversity with that of modern breeding populations. The genetic structure of Andean and Chilean potato farmer selections was investigated with the aid of nine isozymes, which have been studied in detail and used to characterize North American cultivars and advanced breeding lines. These isozymes are associated with the most-important agronomic or quality characters in the North American gene pool. By comparing these data with previous analyses of the North American gene pool, allozyme frequency changes for nine loci were monitored. Allozyme frequency changes were not always due to genetic drift, but resulted also from directional selection of isozyme marker linked quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting agronomic or quality characters. Changes in allozyme frequency can also occur as a consequence of pleiotropy, i.e. the isozyme itself may be involved in the expression of a phenotype. These allozyme frequency changes may reflect the manipulation of the potato genome by breeders. There were allozymes in some North American cultivars that were not observed in the farmer selections from the Andes and Chile. This confirms that breeders have already introgressed exotic genes from wild and other primitive cultivated tuber-bearing Solanum species. On this basis, the need for broadening the genetic base for specific chromosomes (or chromosome regions) should be based on analysis with these and other genetic markers available in potato. Received: 20 November 2000 / Accepted: 27 December 2000     

Effects of the northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) on alpine soil characteristics, Niwot Ridge, CO

Effects of the northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) on surface soilcharacteristics were examined at the alpinesite of Niwot Ridge, CO. We measured erosionof soil from gopher mounds and compared thecharacteristics of gopher mound (disturbed) andundisturbed soils in two major plant communitytypes. Our measurements of erosion indicatelong-term susceptibility of gopher-disturbedsoils to redistribution by water and/or wind inthis ecosystem. Ecosystem heterogeneityintroduced by the gopher is reflected insignificantly lower SOM in gopher mounds thanin surrounding undisturbed soils, acharacteristic which appears to be causallyassociated with other effects of gopherdisturbance including changes in soil textureand significantly lower clays, total C, totalN, total P, and labile P. In contrast toplant-available P, NO₃ ^– was higherand steadily increased for the short term in both gopher mound soils and those beneath the mounds. These pools of NO₃ ^– thendecreased to pre-disturbance levels by thefollowing spring. Collectively our resultsindicate that, through the physicalmanipulation of soil and subsequent effects onsoil resources, the northern pocket gopherfunctions as an agent of increased ecosystemheterogeneity and soil mass and nutrientredistribution at Niwot Ridge.     

Urbanization,sedimentation, and the homogenization of fish assemblages in the Etowah River Basin,USA

We tested the hypothesis that urbanization alters stream sediment regimes and homogenizes fish assemblages in 30 sub-basins of the Etowah River. Sediment variables included average particle size (mean phi) of the stream bed, percent fines (<2 mm) in riffles, and baseflow turbidity (NTU). Homogenization was quantified as ratios of endemic to cosmopolitan species richness (E_r:C_r) and abundance (E_a:C_a). High NTU and fine stream beds were associated with homogenized assemblages (i.e., lower E:C ratios). Mean phi and NTU were significantly correlated with E:C ratios (r = –0.74 to –0.76) and, when combined using multiple regression, accounted for 73% of the variance in ratios. Stream slope strongly covaried with mean phi (r = –0.92) and percent fines in riffles (r = –0.79), but multiple regression models showed that urbanized sites had finer beds and riffles than predicted by slope alone. Urban land cover was the primary predictor of NTU (r ² = 0.42) and, combined with slope in multiple regression, explained 51% of the variance in NTU. Our results indicate that stream slope is a background variable predicting particle size and E:C ratios in these streams. Urbanization disrupts these relationships by transforming clear streams with coarse beds into turbid streams with finer beds. These conditions favor cosmopolitan species, ultimately homogenizing fish assemblages. Bed texture was linked to urbanization; however, NTU was the best indicator of urban impacts because it was statistically independent from slope.     

The relationships between stocking density and welfare in farmed rainbow trout

There is increasing public, governmental and commercial interest in the welfare of intensively farmed fish and stocking density has been highlighted as an area of particular concern. Here we draw scientific attention and debate to this emerging research field by reviewing the evidence for effects of density on rainbow trout. Although no explicit reference to ‘welfare’ has been made, there are 43 studies which have examined the effects of density on production and physiological parameters of rainbow trout. Increasing stocking density does not appear to cause prolonged crowding stress in rainbow trout. However, commonly reported effects of increasing density are reductions in food conversion efficiency, nutritional condition and growth, and an increase in fin erosion. Such changes are indicative of a reduced welfare status—although the magnitude of the effects has tended to be dependent upon study‐specific conditions. Systematic observations on large scale commercial farms are therefore required, rather than extrapolation of these mainly small‐scale experimental findings. There is dispute as to the cause of the observed effects of increasing density, with water quality deterioration and/or an increase in aggressive behaviour being variously proposed. Both causes can theoretically generate the observed effects of increasing density, and the relative contribution of the two causes may depend upon the specific conditions. However, documentation of the relationship between density and the effects of aggressive behaviour at relevant commercial densities is lacking. Consequently only inferential evidence exists that aggressive behaviour generates the observed effects of increasing density, whereas there is direct experimental evidence that water quality degradation is responsible. Nevertheless, there are contradictory recommendations in the literature for key water quality parameters to ensure adequate welfare status. The potential for welfare to be detrimentally affected by non‐aggressive behavioural interactions (abrasion, collision, obstruction) and low densities (due to excessive aggressive behaviour and a poor feeding response) have been largely overlooked. Legislation directly limiting stocking density is likely to be unworkable, and a more practical option might be to prescribe acceptable levels of water quality, health, nutritional condition and behavioural indicators.