Western Yellow-Billed Cuckoo Nest-Site Selection and Success in Restored and Natural Riparian Forests

The western distinct population segment of yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus; western cuckoo) has been extirpated from most of its former breeding range in the United States because of widespread loss and degradation of riparian cottonwood (Populus spp.)-willow (Salix spp.) forests. Restoration and management of breeding habitat is important to the recovery of this federally threatened species, and identification of high-quality breeding habitat can help improve the success of recovery. In 2005, the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, a long-term, multi-agency effort, was initiated to maintain and create wildlife habitat within the historical floodplain of the lower Colorado River (LCR) for federally endangered and threatened species, including western cuckoos. We conducted an empirical, multi-scale field investigation from 2008–2012 to identify habitat characteristics selected by nesting western cuckoos along the LCR. Multiple logistic regression models revealed that western cuckoos selected nest sites characterized by increased densities of small, native, early successional trees measuring 8–23 cm diameter at breast height, and lower diurnal temperature compared to available habitat in restoration and natural forests. Nesting cuckoos selected sites with increased percent canopy closure, which was also important for nest success in restoration sites along the LCR. Our results show habitat components selected by nesting western cuckoos in restoration and natural riparian forests and can help guide the creation, enhancement, and management of riparian forests with habitat conditions necessary to promote nesting of western cuckoos. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.     

陆地生态系统环境控制实验的研究方法及技术体系

生物及生态系统与环境变化间的反馈关系及其过程机制是生态学研究的重要内容。不同类型的生物环境因素控制实验以及大尺度的联网野外控制实验被认为是认识生态系统响应和适应环境变化过程机制、精细定量表达的有效手段及认知过程的加速器。近年来发展了大型野外物理模拟实验装置网络(如ECOTRON)、生态系统分析与实验平台(AnaEE)、国际干旱实验研究网络(Drought Network)、氮沉降联合实验网络(Nutrient Network),以及基于各区域性生态观测实验站的联网控制实验(如USA-ILTER)。发展大陆尺度联网实验研究平台事业正日益受到学术界的重视,将会在认知生态系统环境响应过程机制方面发挥更重要的作用。基于以上背景,本文综述了生态系统环境控制实验的研究方法和实验体系的发展,明确指出各种类型的生物环境控制实验需要形成联合协作体系,共同解决生态系统对环境变化的响应及适应的基本科学问题。目前的控制实验包括: 1) 实验室封闭装置内的生物生理生态学控制实验;2) 野外实验场的半开放部分环境要素控制实验;3) 近自然状态的野外环境控制实验;以及4) 基于野外生态站的联网控制实验。进而,本文还深入讨论了陆地生态系统的环境响应及适应过程机制实验系统设计的发展趋势,分析了基于大尺度自然环境梯度实验及生态站尺度的要素控制实验的优势,提出了整合两种实验技术、发展新一代的野外联网实验体系的科学设想,讨论了基于野外联网控制实验的研究体系,论证了研究生态系统对环境变化短期响应和长期适应的规律和机制、生态系统环境响应定量表达的技术途径。若本文提出的控制实验体系设计方案能够得以实施,必将大大促进我国乃至全球生态系统和环境变化科学的研究水平,对我国应对气候变化和生态环境建设具有重要的科学意义。     

国家公园陆地自然生态系统完整性与原真性评价方法探索: 以钱江源国家公园体制试点为例

中国建立国家公园的目的是保护自然生态系统的完整性和原真性, 促进生物多样性保护。国家公园的完整性和原真性评价是国家公园的布局规划、边界范围确定以及功能区划等研究的前提条件。为了评估国家公园自然生态系统完整性和原真性状态, 本文基于陆地自然生态系统的结构和功能, 通过指标筛选、专家咨询、指标量化和建立综合评价模型, 构建了陆地自然生态系统完整性与原真性的评价指标体系及其量化评价方法。该评价方法包括5个自然生态系统完整性指标、5个自然生态系统原真性指标和2个综合评价指标。以浙江省钱江源国家公园体制试点为例, 本文初步评估了其生态系统完整性与原真性状态, 并对评价结果进行了分级。按照本研究的评价方法, 钱江源国家公园体制试点的自然生态系统完整性评价结果为52.83%, 评价等级为较差; 自然生态系统原真性评价结果为87.06%, 评价等级为好。钱江源国家公园体制试点有待关注和提升的指标有保护区域完整性指数(27.00%)和旗舰种适宜生境完整性指数(53.04%)。最后, 本文结合研究区域评价结果对生态系统完整性和原真性领域应关注的问题进行了讨论。该自然生态系统完整性和原真性评价方法可提供一种评价指标覆盖较全面、数据易获取, 且评价结果易被决策者和管理者理解的评价思路。     

Artificial Spawning Habitats Improve Egg Production of a Declining Diadromous Fish,Galaxias maculatus (Jenyns, 1842)

Anthropogenic impacts from urbanization, deforestation, and agriculture have degraded the riparian margins of waterways worldwide. In New Zealand, such impacts have caused changes in native vegetation, enhanced invasion by exotic grasses, and altered river bank morphology. One consequence has been a great reduction in obligate spawning habitat of a diadromous fish, Galaxias maculatus. Juvenile G. maculatus comprise a culturally important fishery that has been considerably reduced over recent decades. Rehabilitation of riparian vegetation needed for spawning is relatively straightforward, but slow. We hypothesized that artificial spawning habitats could accelerate restoration of fish egg production by creating an environment that would support at least the same density and survival of eggs as non‐impacted vegetation. We tested three artificial devices (straw bales, straw tubes, and moss tubes) in degraded and intact sites. Eggs were laid in all of these with numbers and survival usually exceeding that in riparian grasses. Where habitat was degraded, artificial spawning habitats yielded up to 10,000 eggs compared to none in nearby natural spawning habitat. The ground‐level environment of artificial habitat was similar to that of intact vegetation in buffering ambient temperature and humidity fluctuations. Crucial properties of the artificial habitats were (1) shelter to provide shade and hold moisture; (2) accessibility to allow adult fish to deposit and fertilize eggs; and (3) robustness to provide reliable surfaces and protection for the eggs during their development. We show that artificial spawning habitats are a viable short‐term alternative to rehabilitating spawning habitat while legacy effects abate and riparian vegetation recovers.     

Growth Response of Coyote Willow (Salix exigua) Cuttings in Relation to Alluvial Soil Texture and Water Availability

A common approach to re‐establishing cottonwood–willow habitat along regulated rivers is through installing dormant, rootless cuttings, yet there is little published information exploring floodplain characteristics that optimize growth of southwestern riparian willows planted in this manner. The goal of this project was to evaluate relationships between growth attributes of Salix exigua and soil texture and soil water availability. Monitoring plots were established in five willow swales planted with dormant S. exigua cuttings along the banks of the Middle Rio Grande in central New Mexico. Data analysis revealed significantly higher aerial cover, height, and stem density for S. exigua plants installed in plots with intermediate levels (15–25%) of fine textured soils distributed through the soil profile. Similar relationships were found in relation to soil water availability. Regression analysis of percent fines and available water at different depth increments provided limited explanation of variability in willow growth attributes at different plots. Findings indicate that S. exigua plants established from cuttings can achieve heights and aerial cover values similar to naturally established willow bars if the floodplain soil profile contains intermediate levels of fine textured soils and the maximum depth to groundwater is within 1.5 m of the ground surface. Where sites are dominated by coarse sand, S. exigua growth may be improved if maximum depth to groundwater is within 1 m of the ground surface.     

A Novel Alveolate in Bivalves with Chemosynthetic Bacteria Inhabiting Deep‐Sea Methane Seeps

It has recently been unveiled that a wide variety of microbial eukaryotes (protists) occur in chemosynthetic ecosystems, such as hydrothermal vents and methane seeps. However, there is little knowledge regarding protists associated with endemic animals inhabiting these environments. In the present study, utilizing PCR techniques, we detected fragments of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rRNA gene) from a particular protist from gill tissues of a significant fraction of the vesicomyid clams Calyptogena soyoae and C. okutanii complex and of the mussel Bathymodiolus platifrons and B. japonicus, all of which harbor chemosynthetic endosymbiont bacteria and dominate methane seeps in Sagami Bay, Japan. Based on the phylogeny of SSU rRNA gene, the organism in question was shown to belong to Alveolata. It is noteworthy that this protist did not affiliate with any known alveolate group, although being deeply branched within the lineage of Syndiniales, for which the monophyly was constantly recovered, but not robustly supported. In addition, the protist detected using PCR followed by sequencing was localized within gill epithelial cells of B. platifrons with whole‐mount fluorescence in situ hybridization. This protist may be an endoparasite or an endocommensal of Calyptogena spp. and Bathymodiolus spp., and possibly have physiological and ecological impacts on these bivalves.     

The impacts of climate change and human activities on biogeochemical cycles on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau

With a pace of about twice the observed rate of global warming, the temperature on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau (Earth's ‘third pole’) has increased by 0.2 °C per decade over the past 50 years, which results in significant permafrost thawing and glacier retreat. Our review suggested that warming enhanced net primary production and soil respiration, decreased methane (CH₄) emissions from wetlands and increased CH₄ consumption of meadows, but might increase CH₄ emissions from lakes. Warming‐induced permafrost thawing and glaciers melting would also result in substantial emission of old carbon dioxide (CO₂) and CH₄. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission was not stimulated by warming itself, but might be slightly enhanced by wetting. However, there are many uncertainties in such biogeochemical cycles under climate change. Human activities (e.g. grazing, land cover changes) further modified the biogeochemical cycles and amplified such uncertainties on the plateau. If the projected warming and wetting continues, the future biogeochemical cycles will be more complicated. So facing research in this field is an ongoing challenge of integrating field observations with process‐based ecosystem models to predict the impacts of future climate change and human activities at various temporal and spatial scales. To reduce the uncertainties and to improve the precision of the predictions of the impacts of climate change and human activities on biogeochemical cycles, efforts should focus on conducting more field observation studies, integrating data within improved models, and developing new knowledge about coupling among carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles as well as about the role of microbes in these cycles.     

The SER primer and climate change

The SER Primer on Ecological Restoration provides a succinct introduction to, and overview of, the rapidly growing field of ecological restoration. The Primer was issued initially in 2002 by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) and reissued verbatim 2 years later in a more attractive format ( http://www.ser.org/resources;resources-detail-view/ser-international-primer-on-ecological-restoration ). A SER committee recently began deliberations to update the Primer, and much discussion is underway. As two of the Primer's principal authors, we were invited to share our views on how the Primer can be advantageously revised in the light of any changes or new insights since 2002. In particular, we were asked how the Primer might be modified to reflect the ways that ecological restoration address conservation issues raised by climate change and other rapid environmental shifts and global changes. We also touch on questions relating to the benefits of ecological restoration to human society, as this is an area where the Primer needs sharper focus. We have structured the following in a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ format to highlight issues raised in the recent literature and to focus attention on other issues that merit consideration in the Primer revision process.     

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF ALIEN INVASIVE VEGETATION ON THE GEOMORPHOLOGY OF RIVER CHANNELS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Summary

Invasion of the riparian zone by alien vegetation is recognised as a serious problem in many areas of South Africa. Vegetation is a dynamic component of river channels. It is an important control variable affecting channel form whereas the flow and sediment regime influences vegetation growth. Wherever alien vegetation invades the riparian zone it can be expected that there will be some impact on the physical structure of the riparian habitat. This paper reviews the effect of riparian vegetation on channel processes and channel form and discusses the implications of the invasion of riparian zones by alien vegetation. Woody species in particular are seen as having a significant potential for inducing channel modification, whilst their removal could lead to significant channel instability and mobilisation of sediment. The need for further research into the impact of alien vegetation on the geomorphology of South African river channels is stressed.     

THE BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATE FAUNA OF A SOUTH AFRICAN MOUNTAIN STREAM AND ITS RESPONSE TO FIRE

Summary

The effects of a late-summer prescribed burn on the temperature and benthic macroinvertebrate fauna of a south-western Cape mountain stream were investigated over a period of 12 months. Temperature and discharge regimes appear well-defined and relatively predictable from year to year. As in other mediterranean-type ecosystems, seasonal changes in the structure of the invertebrate community and the relative abundance of different feeding groups appear to be associated primarily with changes in the physical environment. Distinctive summer and winter communities were identified, with chironomids dominating the fauna in summer and simuliids dominant in winter. Although the riparian vegetation was only slightly damaged by the fire, a heavy, aseasonal leaf-fall occurred shortly afterwards. The canopy remained sparse for approximately four months. Stream temperature in the post-burn year was not demonstrably affected by increased exposure to solar radiation, however, probably because the canopy remained open during the winter months. The fire appeared to have little effect on the invertebrate fauna. Apart from five rare elements of the biota, all species recorded in the pre-burn year were present in the post-burn year and in similar densities. It is concluded that the riparian vegetation is of major importance in maintaining the integrity of the stream environment.