古田山不同干扰程度森林的群落恢复动态

森林采伐后次生林的恢复过程对于生物多样性的保护和生态系统功能的重建具有重要意义。作者以古田山不同干扰程度的12个1 ha 森林样地为研究对象, 运用群落多元统计方法, 探讨了自然恢复过程中森林群落组成及物种多样性的动态变化及趋势。结果表明: 不同恢复阶段森林样地的群落组成存在显著性差异, 而同一恢复阶段的样地具有高度的相似性。物种丰富度随恢复进程有增加的趋势, 但各阶段差异并不显著; 物种均匀度除人工林较低以外, 其他恢复阶段之间无显著性差异。不同恢复阶段研究样地的群落组成及物种多样性的差异主要存在于林冠层。灌木及更新层具有各自的指示种, 人工林的指示种为落叶灌木或阳性乔木, 幼龄次生林的指示种为常绿灌木或小乔木, 老次生林的指示种为亚乔木层常绿树种, 老龄林的指示种为林冠层树种。上述结果表明古田山不同人为干扰程度森林群落的物种多样性具有较强的自我恢复能力。尽管物种组成难以预测, 但处于同一恢复阶段的森林, 其幼树的生活型组成呈现出一致的变化趋势。     

5. NOTES FROM GRAAFF-REINET

Clark, A. 1978. Some aspects of the behaviour of whistling ducks in South Africa. Ostrich 49:31-39.

The behaviour of the Whitefaced Whistling Duck Dendrocygna viduata and the Fulvous Whistling Duck D. bicolor wasstudied between 1971 and 1974 on the Witwatersrand, Transvaal. The paper describes and compares behaviour associated with feeding, voice, flight, agonistic situations and copulation in the two species.     

社群大小的年变化、气候和人类活动对神农架自然保护区川金丝猴日移动距离的影响

作者于2001年4月至2003年1月研究了社群大小的年变化、气候和人类活动对神农架自然保护区千家坪地区一群川金丝猴(Rhinopithecusroxellana)日移动距离的影响。对该群金丝猴进行了8个季节的跟踪研究,每季连续跟踪30d。用社群直线距离法确定猴群的日移动距离,同时调查社群大小,记录人为活动和气象因子。研究结果显示:(1)两年间猴群的个体数增加了14%,但其日移动距离没有明显变化,说明社群大小的年变化对日移动距离没有影响。(2)猴群在人为活动影响下的日移动距离比没有人为活动影响时长。(3)多变量回归分析显示,各个季节中,猴群的日移动距离与一天中晴和有云但无降水所占时间的比例没有相关性;与春季和冬季日降雨或雪所占时间的比例呈负相关,但与夏季和秋季的没有相关性,说明降水缩短了冬春季猴群的日移动距离,这可能与川金丝猴的繁殖有关。人为活动对猴群是不利的;冬春季的长时间降水可能是川金丝猴的灾害性天气。     

树种水平的大兴安岭地上生物量变化特征及其与气候和干扰的关系

树种水平地上生物量(每个树种的地上生物量)是衡量森林生态系统结构功能的重要指标。为揭示树种水平森林地上生物量变化机制及其与气候变化和干扰的关系,运用KNN (k-nearest neighbor distance)方法将森林调查数据和MODIS数据相结合,估算了黑龙江大兴安岭2000、2010和2015年树种水平的森林地上生物量,在此基础上运用典型对应分析和随机森林方法,分析了研究区树种水平地上生物量变化特征及其与气候和干扰因素的关系。研究结果表明:2000—2015年期间,研究区总的森林地上生物量增加了8.9%(0.41×10~8 t),其中2010—2015年期间地上生物量的增加速度要明显高于2000—2010年;地上生物量增加最多的树种为白桦(Betula platyphylla Suk.),与2000年相比生物量增加了0.40×10~8 t,其次为樟子松(Pinus sylvestris var.mongolica Litv.)、山杨(Populus davidiana Dode)和蒙古栎(Quercus mongolica Fisch. ex Ledeb.),落叶松(Larix gmelinii(Rupr.) Kuzen)地上生物量下降了0.08×10~8 t,柳树(Chosenia arbutifolia(Pall.) A. Skv.)和云杉(Picea koraiensis Nakai)基本上没有变化;林火、采伐和造林等森林干扰均对树种水平地上生物量影响显著,林火对树种水平地上生物量的影响要高于造林和采伐;气候要素显示出了比干扰要素更为重要的作用,多年平均温度和降水解释了最多的树种水平地上生物量变异。年均温度与阔叶树种的生物量以及林火干扰有显著的正相关性,与总的森林地上生物量呈现出显著的负相关,与落叶松和白桦表现出微弱的负相关,预示着气候变暖将影响该区域的树种组成并降低该区域的森林生产力。     

Sleep and Sleepiness among Brazilian Shift-Working Bus Drivers

The aim of this study was to evaluate daytime and nighttime sleep, as well as daytime and nighttime sleepiness of professional shift-working bus drivers. Thirty-two licensed bus drivers were assessed by nocturnal and diurnal polysomnography (PSG) recording and multiple sleep latency testing (MSLT) sessions. Sleep length was shorter and sleep efficiency reduced during daytime sleep compared with nighttime sleep. Thirty-eight percent of the drivers had indices of obstructive apnea and hypopnea syndrome (>5/h sleep) during nighttime and daytime sleep; more drivers snored during daytime than nighttime sleep (50% vs. 35%, p < 0.05), and 38% of the drivers evidenced periodic leg movements. The MSLT revealed that 42 and 38% of the bus drivers met the criteria for sleepiness when the test was conducted during the day and night, respectively. The daytime as compared to nighttime sleep of shift-working bus drivers was shorter and more fragmented and was associated in many with evidence of excessive sleepiness. Respiratory disorder was a common finding among the professional shift-working bus drivers. All these sleep deficiencies may adversely affect on the job driving performance.     

Can we discriminate snow avalanches from other disturbances using the spatial patterns of tree-ring response? Case studies from the Presidential Range,White Mountains,New Hampshire,United States

Dendrogeomorphology has been recognized as a useful tool to reconstruct past snow avalanche chronologies, especially in remote areas where archives are non-existent. In recent years, there have been a multiplicity of snow avalanche studies based on tree-ring analysis. Yet, the dendrogeomorphic procedure applied to snow avalanches still lacks consensus within the scientific community. This paper illustrates four issues regarding this method encountered on a dataset encompassing 293 trees sampled from 4 sites in the White Mountains (New Hampshire, United States). (1) Separating a sample in an upslope and downslope subgroup allowed to reconstruct a more thorough avalanche chronology. (2) On the other hand, a strong response at a site sheltered from any avalanche track was attributed to extreme snow loadings with a return period well above 100 years. (3) In addition to climatic disturbances, ecological disturbances such as windthrows can cause an anatomical response in the trees similar to snow avalanches. An avalanche track might act as a wind tunnel, making the underlying runout zone a suitable site to windfalls. Sampling in transects can assist in determining the limit between avalanche-related and wind-related disturbances. (4) Early-spring torrential floods and avalanche activities at a multi-process site exhibit distinct spatial patterns in the dendrogeomorphological response that allow discrimination between the two processes in the reconstruction of past chronologies. While the dendrogeomorphologist should be cautious of these issues, their acknowledgement is an opportunity to understand the interactions between the different ecological, climatic and geomorphological processes operating on the forested slopes in the alpine–subalpine environment.     

Changes in tropical fish assemblages associated with small-scale fisheries: a case study in the Pacific off central Mexico

Information from artisanal marine fisheries inColima, Mexico is analyzed to find evidence ofchange in the composition of fish assemblagesresulting from fishing pressure. Catchcomposition from up to 20 boats per day, during2 to 6 days a month, were recorded from 1983 to1998. Stability of the species composition wasanalyzed using rank correlation methods, andmeasures of diversity (specific richness,Shannon-Wiener index, evenness) were estimatedfrom data. The resulting time-series wereanalyzed to detect trends. No significantdifferences were found in the number of speciescaught by month nor were significant trends indiversity detected. The composition of the fishassemblages is dynamic. The presence ofpersistent and resilient species that definedthe values obtained of diversity and evennesswas detected, but did not determine thestructure of the community, which is apparentlydefined by other factors. The changes incomposition of the catch probably are aconsequence of environmental fluctuations andrandom events, and not a direct consequence offishing pressures on the fish community.     

Microlitre/millilitre shaken bioreactors in fermentative and biotransformation processes - a review

The use of small-scale vessels (below 100 mL) as tools for the characterization of fermentative and biotransformation processes is an emergent approach, which may provide a wide array of data with significant time and cost savings. These result from the reduced reagent requirements and the possibility of simultaneously carrying out the evaluation of multiple operational parameters and assessing their individual or combined effect in the process. Furthermore, it is envisaged that such data will provide the basis for a rational scale-up of the systems evaluated. This requires an engineering approach, which has been integrated with the development of microscale technology. This review comprises recent findings related to the use and characterization of Erlenmeyer type flasks, test tubes and microtiter plates as bioreactors.     

The relative importance of climatic effects, wildfires and management for future forest landscape dynamics in the Swiss Alps

Forest landscape dynamics result from the complex interaction of driving forces and ecological processes operating on various scales. Projected climate change for the 21st century will alter climate‐sensitive processes, causing shifts in species composition and also bringing about changes in disturbance regimes, particularly regarding wildfires. Previous studies of the impact of climate change on forests have focused mainly on the direct effects of climate. In the present study, we assessed the interactions among forest dynamics, climate change and large‐scale disturbances such as fire, wind and forest management. We used the Land Clim model to investigate the influence, interactions and the relative importance of these different drivers of landscape dynamics in two case study areas of the European Alps. The simulations revealed that projected future climate change would cause extensive forest cover changes, beginning in the coming decades. Fire is likely to become almost as important for shaping the landscape as the direct effects of climate change, even in areas where major wildfires do not occur under current climatic conditions. The effects of variable wind disturbances and harvesting regimes, however, are less likely to have a considerable impact on forest development compared with the direct effects of climate change coupled with the indirect effects of increased fire activity. We conclude that the joint direct and indirect effects of climate change are likely to have major consequences for mountain forests in the European Alps, including their ability to provide protection against natural hazards.