Year-round cattle and horse grazing supports the restoration of abandoned,dry sandy grassland and heathland communities by supressing Calamagrostis epigejos and enhancing species richness

The spread of competitive grasses, changes in species composition and vegetation structure are direct consequences of grassland and heathland abandonment. As an alternative to more costly management measures such as traditional pastoralism, year-round low-intensity grazing with large herbivores is increasingly used to restore and maintain semi-open habitats. However, the suitability of this grazing regime has not yet been investigated for long-abandoned, highly degraded but nutrient-poor sandy grassland and heathland communities. In particular, it is unclear if year-round grazing is suitable for preventing the further spread of highly competitive grasses such as Calamagrostis epigejos while simultaneously maintaining or improving characteristic species richness and vegetation structure. Hence, we conducted a comprehensive field study on two spatial scales (plot-level: 25 m², macroplot-level: 1 ha) to analyse the impacts of year-round low-intensity cattle and horse grazing on the development of the highly competitive grass Calamagrostis epigejos, as well as the vegetation structure and plant species richness of long-abandoned but nutrient-poor dry sandy grassland and heathland communities, their mosaics and Calamagrostis stands within an 800 ha heathland between 2008 and 2015. Finally, we assessed the local conservation status of the habitat types after seven years of grazing in comparison to long-abandoned sites.Grazing successfully reduced the coverage of Calamagrostis epigejos, whereby Calamagrostis stands developed towards species-rich sandy grasslands after seven years of grazing. In addition, the quality of the vegetation structure was improved by enhancing the proportion of bare soil, while litter and grass cover, litter thickness and height of the field layer as well as the coverage of ruderal indicators were significantly reduced on grazed sites in comparison to ungrazed sites in 2015. Moreover, we found an overall positive grazing effect on species richness: Total species number, number of target species as well as subordinated target species significantly increased within the vegetation types over time.Thus, year-round low-intensity cattle and horse grazing is a suitable management tool for restoring, maintaining and even improving long-abandoned, nutrient-poor sandy grassland and heathland communities, and thus to enhance the local conservation status of the habitat types. However, if there is a high initial cover of woody species (e.g. shrubs, tree rejuvenation), then an extensive shrub and tree clearance will be necessary, with manual shrub cutting being crucial to reduce the heavy regrowth of the woody species. In addition, a one-time mowing should be implemented in highly degraded heaths to facilitate the vegetative rejuvenation of degenerate stands of Calluna vulgaris, thus improving its attractiveness for the grazing animals.     

地理距离及环境差异对云南元江干热河谷植物群落beta多样性的影响

beta多样性反映了群落间物种组成的差异, 是生物多样性研究的热点之一。本研究通过对云南元江干热河谷41个植物群落样方进行调查, 用Jaccard相异系数表征物种beta多样性, 用样方之间的最近谱系距离(mean nearest taxon distance, MNTD)及平均谱系距离(mean pairwise distance, MPD)表征谱系beta多样性, 采用基于距离矩阵的多元回归和方差分解方法, 探讨了该区域干热河谷典型植物群落的物种beta多样性和谱系beta多样性与样方间环境差异(主要是气候)及地理距离之间的关系。结果表明: (1)群落间的地理距离和年平均温度差异对干热河谷植物群落的物种beta多样性和谱系beta多样性有显著影响; (2)地理距离对物种beta多样性和MNTD的影响最大; 地理距离和年平均温度差异对MPD的影响均较大; (3)样方间年平均温度与年平均降水量的差异和地理距离能够解释群落间beta多样性及谱系beta多样性11-13%的变异。以上结果表明, 生态位分化和扩散限制对该地区植物群落的beta多样性均有显著影响, 其中扩散限制的影响可能更大。此外, 人类活动等其他因素也很可能对元江干热河谷的群落组成具有非常重要的影响。     

Effect of human activities on Egyptian vulture breeding success

Habitat loss, electrocution on power poles and persecution by humans are the main threats to birds of prey. Nevertheless, the effects of human disturbance on endangered species are becoming notorious due to the increasing recreational use of the natural environment. We evaluated the effects of human disturbances on Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus breeding success and developed conservation measures based on minimum distance of effect and buffer areas in a high human density area of northern Spain. A total of 100 breeding attempts of 15 breeding pairs were monitored over 8 years. Human disturbances affected 42 of the breeding attempts. Those disturbances related to and originating in forestry work had the most severe effect on breeding success, being associated with the loss of 100% of 13 breeding attempts, while human disturbances related to free-time activities caused 44% failures in 25 breeding attempts by four pairs, two of them within Natural Parks. The breeding success was significantly less in territories affected by disturbances than in those free of disturbances. Some pairs affected by disturbances changed their nest site, increasing breeding success. Adults were prevented from entering the nest to feed chicks when anyone was detected at an average distance of 307 m, while an average distance of 837.5 m allowed them access. The maximum alert distance was estimated at 605 m and the buffer area was 57 ha. We discuss the application of our results for management schemes and conservation of this species.     

Advanced monitoring of high-rate anaerobic reactors through quantitative image analysis of granular sludge and multivariate statistical analysis

Four organic loading disturbances were performed in lab-scale EGSB reactors fed with ethanol. In load disturbance 1 (LD1) and 2 (LD2), the organic loading rate (OLR) was increased between 5 and 18.5 kg COD m(-3) day(-1), through the influent ethanol concentration increase, and the hydraulic retention time decrease from 7.8 to 2.5 h, respectively. Load disturbances 3 (LD3) and 4 (LD4) were applied by increasing the OLR to 50 kg COD m(-3) day(-1) during 3 days and 16 days, respectively. The granular sludge morphology was quantified by image analysis and was related to the reactor performance, including effluent volatile suspended solids, indicator of washout events. In general, it was observed the selective washout of filamentous forms associated to granules erosion/fragmentation and to a decrease in the specific acetoclastic activity. These phenomena induced the transitory deterioration of reactor performance in LD2, LD3, and LD4, but not in LD1. Extending the exposure time in LD4 promoted acetogenesis inhibition after 144 h. The application of Principal Components Analysis determined a latent variable that encompasses a weighted sum of performance, physiological and morphological information. This new variable was highly sensitive to reactor efficiency deterioration, enclosing variations between 27% and 268% in the first hours of disturbances. The high loadings raised by image analysis parameters, especially filaments length per aggregates area (LfA), revealed that morphological changes of granular sludge, should be considered to monitor and control load disturbances in high rate anaerobic (granular) sludge bed digesters.     

Small-scale disturbances spread along trophic chains: leaf-cutting ant nests, plants, aphids, and tending ants

Small-scale disturbances caused by animals often modify soil resource availability and may also affect plant attributes. Changes in the phenotype of plants growing on disturbed, nutrient-enriched microsites may influence the distribution and abundance of associated insects. We evaluated how the high nutrient availability generated by leaf-cutting ant nests in a Patagonian desert steppe may spread along the trophic chain, affecting the phenotype of two thistle species, the abundance of a specialist aphid and the composition of the associated assemblage of tending ants. Plants of the thistle species Carduus nutans and Onopordum acanthium growing in piles of waste material generated by leaf-cutting ant nests (i.e., refuse dumps) had more leaves, inflorescences and higher foliar nitrogen content than those in non-nest soils. Overall, plants in refuse dumps showed higher abundance of aphids than plants in non-nest soils, and aphid colonies were of greater size on O. acanthium plants than on C. nutans plants. However, only C. nutans plants showed an increase in aphid abundance when growing on refuse dumps. This resulted in a similar aphid load in both thistle species when growing on refuse dumps. Accordingly, only C. nutans showed an increase in the number of ant species attending aphids when growing on refuse dumps. The increase of soil fertility generated by leaf-cutting ant nests can affect aphid abundance and their tending ant assemblage through its effect on plant size and quality. However, the propagation of small-scale soil disturbances through the trophic chain may depend on the identity of the species involved.     

哀牢山湿性常绿阔叶林木质藤本植物地上部分生物量及其对人为干扰的响应

 木质藤本植物是森林, 尤其是热带和亚热带森林中的重要组分。由于野外调查的困难, 对其生态学的研究相对较少。对哀牢山原生山地湿性常绿阔叶林和4类次生林中的藤本植物进行了调查, 利用48株藤本植物样木实测数据, 采用样本回归分析法, 选取藤本植物的不同参数作为自变量, 分别对冠层和林下两类藤本混合种生物量模型进行了拟合比较, 结合样地内长度≥50 cm的所有藤本植物的调查资料估算了各森林群落藤本植物地上部分生物量, 探讨了原生林中藤本植物地上部分生物量的组成与分布特征, 以及人为干扰对藤本植物地上部分生物量的影响。结果表明: 1)以藤本基径为自变量建立幂函数回归模型, 其相关系数较高, 具有较高的实用价值; 2)该区山地湿性常绿阔叶林中藤本植物地上部分生物量为9.82×10³ kg·hm^–2, 其中冠层藤本(基径≥1.0 cm, 长度≥5.0 m)生物量占藤本植物总生物量的99.70%, 林下藤本(基径<1.0 cm, 长度<5.0 m)的地上部分生物量很低; 3)人为干扰后林下藤本植物的生物量相对增加, 而冠层藤本植物的地上部分生物量显著减少; 经过约100年恢复演替的老龄栎类萌生林藤本植物地上部分生物量才达到接近原生林的水平。     

A general framework to describe the alteration of natural tree species composition as an indicator of forest naturalness

The alteration of natural tree species composition is defined as the deviation of the current tree species composition from that of the natural state. It can be used as a measure of human influence on forest vegetation, and thus as an indicator of the naturalness of forest vegetation. The aim of the study was to develop a standard procedure for estimating the alteration of natural tree species composition, to explain factors driving alteration and to examine its significance for susceptibility of forest stands to natural disturbances. The alteration of natural tree species composition was estimated for the Dinaric region (5556 km², Slovenia) by the Robič Index of Dissimilarity (RID), ranging from 0 (completely natural) to 100 (completely altered). The index was calculated on the compartment level (24 ha each on average) with data on current and potential natural forest vegetation. The influence of human activities on tree species alteration was examined by using topographic and accessibility variables. The susceptibility of forest stands to natural disturbances was analysed with data on sanitary felling. In the study area, the natural tree species composition of forest stands is moderately preserved; the average value of RID was 50.05, ranging from 1.76 to 100, and the coefficient of variation was 0.49. The alteration of the natural tree species composition of forest stands is primarily the result of forest management and past land use, conditioned either by topography or accessibility of forests. The degree of alteration of tree species composition decreased along the gradients of rockiness, inclination and elevation. A greater degree of alteration appeared on the slopes of intermediate and south facing aspects than on north facing slopes, and in areas that were closer to the forest edge. A higher level of alteration significantly increases the susceptibility of forest stands to natural disturbances. The procedure represents a novel approach in modelling the alteration (naturalness) of tree species composition of forest vegetation. It is applicable at different spatial scales and fosters an understanding of the patterns of tree species composition under the influence of human activity across forest landscapes.     

Metapopulation structure and fine-scaled genetic structuring in crop-wild hybrid weed beets

This study explores the microspatial and temporal genetic variation in crop-wild hybrid weed beets that emerged from the seed bank in a cultivated field surveyed over two successive years. We demonstrate the occurrence of demes highly genetically differentiated, kin-structured, characterized by moderate effective population sizes, differing in propensity for selfing, and arising from nonrandom genetic subsets of the seed bank. Only one deme identified in the first survey year significantly contributed to the weed beets that emerged in the second year. Spatial structuring appears to be primarily due to gravity seed dispersal and limited pollen flow among weed beet demes. Within each genetic cluster identified by Bayesian assignments and multivariate analyses, F(IS) estimates and level of biparental inbreeding--revealed by progeny analyses--dropped to non-significant values. This suggests that random mating occurs at the scale of genetically distinct demes over a very short scale. Our results highlight the need to carefully depict genetic discontinuities in weed species, when attempting to describe their local genetic neighborhoods within which genetic drift and selective processes occur.     

Effects of Hurricanes on Rare Plant Demography in Fire‐Controlled Ecosystems

Hurricanes have dramatic effects on forest vegetation, but their effects on shrublands have rarely been studied. We analyzed the effects of three 2004 hurricanes—among the strongest on record in Florida—on vital rates of 12 rare plant species of pyrogenic interior Florida scrub and sandhill. Tree damage varied by vegetation type (being highest in areas with Pinus clausa) and was associated with debris deposition. Most rare species were minimally impacted by hurricanes. The two most frequently damaged species were the shrubs Prunus geniculata (11% of individuals) and Asimina obovata (7%); both were resilient to damage. Prunus geniculata had little mortality during the hurricane year but damaged plants had a temporary (1‐yr) reduction in relative growth rate. Prunus geniculata flowering was unaffected by hurricane damage. Hurricane damage had no effects on vital rates of A. obovata, Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifolium, or Chrysopsis highlandsensis. Other species suffered little or no observable hurricane damage. Of 12 species analyzed, nine had similar annual survival in hurricane and nonhurricane years. Relatively low survival in the hurricane year (compared with other years) was linked to prehurricane drought or prescribed fire in two of three species. Thus, the 2004 hurricanes did not have important effects on populations of interior Florida scrub and sandhill plants, especially herbaceous species. This is in marked contrast to dramatic demographic responses to fire in central Florida and strong effects of hurricanes in coastal Florida, highlighting that these different disturbances may have divergent effects on vegetation and populations over short distances.