甘肃省麦积山景区——生态过渡带自然和文化遗产杰出范例

直到现在,生物多样性管护的主要注意力放在热点地区,但T．B．Smith等生态学家提出,管护战略必须把注意力不仅放在热点地区。而且也耍放在相联系的过渡带。他们争论说后者区域可能保有许多种群之间的适应变异,并因而对于生物多样性的产生和保持很重要。虽然生态过渡带常常拥有高的物种丰富度,但它们大多数是广泛分布的物种,它们的分布范围在生态过渡带相遇。甘肃省的麦积山景区是我国生态过渡带的自然和文化遗产地的杰出代表。麦积山景区不仅具有温凉、半湿润、四季分明的气候和复杂的地质地貌与土壤条件,使它的生物多样性独特丰富,具有过渡的特点,为我国同纬度其它地区无法相比,它的古文化遗存也丰富多彩,在一定程度上展现了印度佛教文化向中国化的过渡。     

人工管理和自然驱动下盐城海滨湿地互花米草沼泽演变及空间差异

将盐城国家级自然保护区核心区划分为人工管理区和自然湿地区两种模式,根据2000年、2006年、2011年3个时相的ETM+影像,运用RS、GIS技术和景观生态学方法,分析不同驱动力下互花米草沼泽景观变化的差异.结果表明:(1)人工管理区,2000-2011年,互花米草沼泽面积由272hm2增加到781hm2;平均分维数呈下降的趋势,聚合度指数呈上升的趋势,表明互花米草沼泽在空间上趋于聚集,在形状上趋于规则;从互花米草沼泽增长速率看,2000-2011年,呈现先快后慢的特征.在景观空间演变上,互花米草沼泽的平均宽度从598.679m增加到1719.002m,表现出向海陆两个方向扩张的特征.(2)自然湿地区,2000-2011年互花米草沼泽面积由2023hm2增加到3974hm2;平均分维数和聚合度指数呈先上升后下降的趋势;米草沼泽增长稳定,年增长约160-180 hm2/a,单位长度岸线年增长面积约为15 hm2· km-1·a-1左右;比较发现,自然湿地区互花米草沼泽的增长速度高于人工管理区的增长速度.在景观空间演变上,互花米草沼泽平均宽度从1625.586m增加到3193.317m,2000-2006年表现出向海洋单方向扩张的特征,2006-2011年表现出向海陆两个方向扩张的性质.(3)在自然条件下互花米草沼泽扩张受到气候、地貌过程、水文过程、植被类型及种间竞争的影响,表现出明显的带状特征.在人工管理下,通过建设拦水堤坝等,阻止了潮汐作用下海水的扩散能力,生态过程发生改变,致使生态系统类型向淡水湿地方向演变,抑制了互花米草沼泽的扩张,表现出一定的镶嵌格局.     

Local and global pyrogeographic evidence that indigenous fire management creates pyrodiversity

Despite the challenges wildland fire poses to contemporary resource management, many fire‐prone ecosystems have adapted over centuries to millennia to intentional landscape burning by people to maintain resources. We combine fieldwork, modeling, and a literature survey to examine the extent and mechanism by which anthropogenic burning alters the spatial grain of habitat mosaics in fire‐prone ecosystems. We survey the distribution of Callitris intratropica, a conifer requiring long fire‐free intervals for establishment, as an indicator of long‐unburned habitat availability under Aboriginal burning in the savannas of Arnhem Land. We then use cellular automata to simulate the effects of burning identical proportions of the landscape under different fire sizes on the emergent patterns of habitat heterogeneity. Finally, we examine the global extent of intentional burning and diversity of objectives using the scientific literature. The current distribution of Callitris across multiple field sites suggested long‐unburnt patches are common and occur at fine scales (<0.5 ha), while modeling revealed smaller, patchy disturbances maximize patch age diversity, creating a favorable habitat matrix for Callitris. The literature search provided evidence for intentional landscape burning across multiple ecosystems on six continents, with the number of identified objectives ranging from two to thirteen per study. The fieldwork and modeling results imply that the occurrence of long‐unburnt habitat in fire‐prone ecosystems may be an emergent property of patch scaling under fire regimes dominated by smaller fires. These findings provide a model for understanding how anthropogenic burning alters spatial and temporal aspects of habitat heterogeneity, which, as the literature survey strongly suggests, warrant consideration across a diversity of geographies and cultures. Our results clarify how traditional fire management shapes fire‐prone ecosystems, which despite diverse objectives, has allowed human societies to cope with fire as a recurrent disturbance.     

The Role of Microsite Conditions in Restoring Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) from Seed

Encouraging natural regeneration of Populus tremuloides Michx (trembling aspen) from seed is a largely unexplored means for reintroducing the species into reclamation areas. We evaluated the effects of microsite (surface contour and substrate type) on aspen seedling establishment and growth on a reclaimed coal mine. The 4.6 ha study site was divided into six 48 m‐wide strips that had 15 or 40 cm capping material salvaged from a nearby forest floor added to the mine surface. We surveyed 126 m long transects located in the center of each strip for microsite conditions, and the presence and height of aspen seedlings. We found that aspen seedlings generally preferred mineral‐organic substrates and concave microsites. To facilitate the regeneration of aspen by seed, we suggest that land managers increase small‐scale roughness and microtopographic diversity on reclaimed sites .     

罗汉果甜苷V的合成生物学研究进展

罗汉果甜苷V是罗汉果甜苷中含量和甜度均较高的成分,具有止咳祛痰、抗癌、抗氧化、调节血糖等诸多药理活性,成为兼具治疗功能的天然非糖甜味剂,具有广阔的市场前景。然而目前有限的生物资源和较高的提取成本,限制了它的广泛应用。合成生物学的快速发展为植物天然产物的生产提供了一种新思路,通过构建罗汉果甜苷V的微生物细胞工厂,将实现其低成本、规模化生产。文中介绍了罗汉果甜苷V的结构及药理活性,重点综述了罗汉果甜苷V的合成生物学研究进展,并探讨了当前研究所面临的挑战,以期为罗汉果甜苷V生物合成的进一步研究提供参考。     

自然生态系统公益及其价值

自然生态系统公益是指自然生态系统及其生态过程所形成的维持人类赖以生态的自然环境条件及其提供的服务.自然生态系统不但为人类提供食物、木材、燃料、纤维以及药物等社会经济发展的重要组成成分,而且还维持着人类赖以生存的生命支持系统,包括空气和水体的净化、缓解洪涝和干旱、土壤的产生及其肥力的维持、分解废物、生物多样性的产生和维持、气候的调节等,没有自然生态系统提供的这些公益人类文明将不再繁荣.人类经济的发展很大程度上依赖自然生态系统公益,但是人类工农业生产活动已经破坏了自然生态系统,如果继续当前的不合理生产方式,人类将在几十年内完全失去全球现有的自然生态系统公益.为了维持自然生态系统的可持续能力,更为了人类自身繁衍和发展,系统地认识并采取有效措施保持自然生态系统公益迫在眉睫.     

The danger of applying the breeder's equation in observational studies of natural populations

The breeder's equation, which predicts evolutionary change when a phenotypic covariance exists between a heritable trait and fitness, has provided a key conceptual framework for studies of adaptive microevolution in nature. However, its application requires strong assumptions to be made about the causation of fitness variation. In its univariate form, the breeder's equation assumes that the trait of interest is not correlated with other traits having causal effects on fitness. In its multivariate form, the validity of predicted change rests on the assumption that all such correlated traits have been measured and incorporated into the analysis. Here, we (i) highlight why these assumptions are likely to be seriously violated in studies of natural, rather than artificial, selection and (ii) advocate wider use of the Robertson–Price identity as a more robust, and less assumption‐laden, alternative to the breeder's equation for applications in evolutionary ecology.     

唐家河自然保护区大熊猫种群数量及栖息地的移动

本文根据大熊猫季节性活动规律特点,应用海拔高度路线调查法,全面收集唐家河自然保护区大熊猫的比较新鲜粪便,计获１２４个粪样材料,提取ＤＮＡ作ＤＮＡ指纹图,经微机检测,保护区有大熊猫３７只,个体数量与粪样采集量之比为１∶３３５１４,有６个家系,雌兽２１只,雄兽１６只。并搞清了保护区生态环境质量,箭竹遭受病虫害的程度,洪水对栖息地的影响,特别对引起大熊猫数量减少及栖息地移动等原因,作了较为详细的分析。     

Litterfall Production Along Successional and Altitudinal Gradients of Subtropical Monsoon Evergreen Broadleaved Forests in Guangdong, China

Evaluation of litterfall production is important for understanding nutrient cycling, forest growth, successional pathways, and interactions with environmental variables in forest ecosystems. Litterfall was intensively studied during the period of 1982–2001 in two subtropical monsoon vegetation gradients in the Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve, Guangdong Province, China. The two gradients include: (1) a successional gradient composed of pine forest (PF), mixed pine and broadleaved forest (MF) and monsoon evergreen broadleaved forest (BF), and (2) an altitudinal gradient composed of Baiyunci ravine rain forest (BRF), Qingyunci ravine rain forest (QRF), BF and mountainous evergreen broadleaved forest (MMF). Mean annual litterfall production was 356, 861 and 849 g m⁻² for PF, MF and BF of the successional gradient, and 1016, 1061, 849 and 489 g m⁻² for BRF, QRF, BF and MMF of the altitudinal gradient, respectively. As expected, mean annual litterfall of the pioneer forest PF was the lowest, but rapidly increased over the observation period while those in other forests were relatively stable, confirming that forest litterfall production is closely related to successional stages and growth patterns. Leaf proportions of total litterfall in PF, MF, BF, BRF, QRF and MMF were 76.4%, 68.4%, 56.8%, 55.7%, 57.6% and 69.2%, respectively, which were consistent with the results from studies in other evergreen broadleaved forests. Our analysis on litterfall monthly distributions indicated that litterfall production was much higher during the period of April to September compared to other months for all studied forest types. Although there were significant impacts of some climate variables (maximum and effective temperatures) on litterfall production in some of the studied forests, the mechanisms of how climate factors (temperature and rainfall) interactively affect litterfall await further study.