Actinomycete diversity associated with foaming in activated sludge plants

Large numbers of mycolic acid-containing actinomycetes were isolated from foam and scum samples taken from three activated-sludge sewage-treatment plants using several selective isolation media. Organisms presumptively identified as gordonae formed the dominant population in all of the samples. A representative set of these strains have chemical properties consistent with their classification in the genusGordona. Forty-eight of theGordona strains were compared through 165 unit characters with the type strains of validly described species ofGordona. The resultant data were examined using the Jaccard and simple matching coefficients and clustering achieved using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages algorithm. The numerical classification was only marginally affected by the statistics used or by test error, estimated as 3.92%. The isolates were assigned to five multi-membered and 28 single-membered clusters defined by the simple matching coefficient at the 89% similarity level. With few exceptions, the isolates were sharply separated from theGordona marker strains. Essentially the same classification was obtained when the test strains were examined using a Curie-point pyrolysis mass spectrometric procedure. It can be concluded that the gordonae form a heterogeneous taxonomic group, the members of which can be distinguished from representatives of validly described species ofGordona.     

Trends in structural compositional attributes of dune-interdune vegetation and their edaphic relations in the Indian desert

Vegetation of 127 sites on different aspects of dune-interdunes in the Indian Thar Desert was classified using TWINSPAN. TWINSPAN groupings of sites separated better vegetated dunes of the northeast form the poorly vegetated dunes of the northwest and the southwest. Of the different ordinations using noncentred, centred and centred and standardized principal component analysis, reciprocal averaging and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), the site and species classes in DCA correlated well with ten edaphic and ten vegetational attributes of each site. Strong correlation of vegetation groupings with soil texture, moisture holding capacity and low correlation with pH and electrical conductivity revealed the possible importance of soil physical properties in affecting vegetation composition.The 11 species classes in TWINSPAN were regrouped into 18 species classes in DCA, which separated highly frequent species from those of less and least frequent species. Based on dominance-diversity attributes, Calligonum polygonoides-Lasiurus sindicus was brought out as bioedaphic climax stage. Correlation of ordination scores in different site groupings with vegetational attributes showed specific trends: From the zero of x, y and z axes to their maximum, the ordination scores of grasses and browse species declined while score of spinous species increased. The sites near the origin of the x, y and z axes were therefore least degraded and those at or near the maximum of x, y & z axes were most disturbed as was confirmed by the dominance diversity trends. Thus trends of compositional and functional attributes of vegetation of sites in different groupings helped in inferring a site's degradation status.Abbreviations RIV Relative importance value - TWINSPAN Two Way Indicator Species Analysis - PCA Principal Component Analysis - RA Reciprocal Averaging - DCA Detrended Correspondence Analysis - EC Electrical Conductivity - WHC Water Holding Capacity - BD Beta Diversity - DC Dominance Concentration - WWS Windward slope of the dune - LWS Leeward slope of the dune - ID Interdune Nomenclature: Bhandari, (1990)     

Environmental diversity: on the best-possible use of surrogate data for assessing the relative biodiversity of sets of areas

The conservation goal of representation of biodiversity (in the broad sense of all species) in protected areas requires best-possible use of available surrogate information. One standard approach is based on indicator groups of taxa. A minimum set of areas having at least one representation of each indicator species is taken to be representative of other organisms. This same minimum-set approach is adapted to other attributes of biodiversity, for example, derived environmental clusters. A weakness of these approaches is that useful information is lost; for example, for environmental clusters, there is no distinction made either among or within clusters. A more powerful surrogate approach can use some expression of environmental and/or biotic pattern so that variation among areas is seen as part of a continuum rather than partitioned into arbitrary clusters/attributes. The challenge in using pattern effectively is to adopt a robust model for the relationship between pattern and the underlying units of biodiversity, i.e. species. An environmental space (a continuum or ordination pattern), combined with the standard ecological continuum model relating species to environmental space, has advantages over other patterns based on hierarchy or distance matrices. Because an environmental space can be estimated either directly (observed environmental data) or indirectly (data on indicator groups), the corresponding surrogate-measure of biodiversity, environmental diversity (ED) makes best-possible use of either kind of data. We conclude that the arbitrariness of the attribute approach can be replaced by a robust surrogate pattern approach that is flexible and avoids unwarranted assumptions.     

Integrating conservation and development: incorporating vulnerability into biodiversity-assessment of areas

Protection of regional biodiversity requires that priority for protection of individual areas be based on both the contribution the area can make to representing overall biodiversity and the degree to which the area, in the absence of action, is vulnerable to loss of its biodiversity. Attempts to apply these criteria together largely have been ad hoc. A solution to this problem is presented for environmental surrogate data, based on environmental diversity (ED). ED uses a standard ecological continuum model to link environmental pattern to species-level biodiversity, so that a set of areas can be characterized by its relative expected biodiversity. This allows explicit incorporation of estimates of area-vulnerability, interpreted as the relative probability that any member species will not persist, into biodiversity assessments. The contribution of a given area to regional expected biodiversity is influenced not only by its own vulnerability value, but also by the vulnerability of other areas. Increasing the degree of protection of any area (reducing its vulnerability) will increase expected biodiversity: however, expected regional biodiversity sometimes may be maximized when limited resources for protection are directed to an area with lower vulnerability rather than to one with higher vulnerability.The allocation of land uses in a region need not be viewed as an all-or-nothing assignment of protection. The effect of a particular management regime on the biodiversity of a given area can be equated with some consequent degree of vulnerability; viewed positively, a management regime that offers some degree of biodiversity protection can make a measurable contribution to the protection of the biodiversity of a region.     

庐山野生观赏植物资源多样性及持续利用对策

庐山是我国著名的风景旅游和避暑胜地,也是我国中亚热带北缘植物多样性的宝库．本文在广泛调查、收集、整理的基础上,研究了庐山野生观赏植物资源多样性特征、分布、类型及其配置．本区分布有野生观赏植物５２８种,隶属于１１５科２９０属,其中乔木类１３８种,灌木类１４０种,藤木类５２种,草本类１９８种．并根据开发与保护现状对庐山野生观赏植物资源多样性的持续利用提出了切实可行的对策．     

悬钩子属种质的评价

在进行了７省悬钩子资源调查的基础上,在南京建立了悬钩子属田间基因库。３年来对田间基因库内保存并开花结果的３０个种进行了开花结果性状的记栽和评价。内容包括果实特征,糖、酸、维生素类、氨基酸、矿质元素含量分析,染色体计数等。分析了种间和种内多样性物存在及在良种选育中利用的可能性。     

The Conservation Status of Hong Kong's Tree Flora

1IntroductionHongKongliesonthesouthcoastofChinabetweenlatitudes22?9'-22?TNandlon-gitudesl13?2'Nl14?0'E.ItconsistsofasectionoftheChinesemainland(KowloonandtheNewTerritories,782km2)andnumerousislands,ofwhichthelargestareLantauIsland(142km2)andHongKongIsland(78km2).Thetotalareais1076km2.Thetopographyisextremelyrugged,reaching957matthehighestpoint,TaiMoShah,intheNewTerrito-ries.HongKong'spopulationof6millionpeopleisconcentratedonthelimitednaturalflatland,whichhasbeenextendedbycoastalrecla…     

中国海洋浮游端足类的物种多样性

中国海域已发现浮游端足类122种,呈现从北部往南部海区、从近海往外海区种数逐渐增加,且暖水性也逐渐增强的分布特征。渤海、黄海北部和西南部的浮游端足类同属暖温带分布,黄海东南部和东海西北部为暖温带分布和热带分布的过渡带,东海东部和东海西南部以及台湾海峡、南海均属热带分布,其中东海东部和南海中、南部热带大洋分布的特征显著。