Dynamics of distribution in animal communities: Theory and analysis

Theoretical and analytical problems of the dynamics of distribution and abundance in animal communities were examined. In many communities, species with low abundance and of limited spatial occurrence (i.e., rare species) typically form a conspicuous peak when a frequency distribution of the number of species is constructed with respect to the proportion of sites occupied within an area of distribution. Models of distribution dynamics, including a new model proposed here, were compared with a range of animal community data using a new procedure to assess single- and bi-modal patterns in frequency distributions of spatial occurrence. Data reveal that single-modality with an excess of rare species occurs more frequently than bimodality. Even when bimodality is detected, the mode representing wide-spread species is in the majority of cases smaller than that for rare species. Thus, a new model in which the rate of local extinctions is assumed to be negatively related to patch occupancy (or population abundance) is in better agreement with observed data than earlier models. Some problems of analysis, in particular model assumptions and testing, are discussed.     

Brachiopod community paleoecology, paleobiogeography, and depositional topography of the Devonian Onondaga Limestone and correlative strata in eastern North America

The Emsian? through early Eifelian Onondaga Limestone of the Appalachian Basin was deposited in a topographic basin and on the carbonate platform which surrounded the basin on the west, north, and northeast. Onondaga strata thin from the platform into the basin. Two sedimentary cycles are present in the sub-Tioga Onondaga of eastern North America. The Edgecliff-Amherstburg represents an interval of transgression, in which epeiric seas spread over much of eastern North America. During the Nedrow-Lucas regression, the interior of the carbonate platform became restricted, resulting in the deposition of evaporites. The Moorehouse-Anderdon transgression continued through the deposition of the Tioga Bentonite, followed by the pre-Speeds-Dundee regression from the craton. Early Eifelian Appalachian Basin Onondaga brachiopod communities, arranged from nearshore to offshore, include the Atrypid-Megakozlowskiella, Atrypid-Levenea, Chonetid, Atlanticocoelia, Ambocoeliid, and Truncalosia Communities. The Onondaga-age Eastern Americas Realm is divided into the Appohimchi Province in the Appalachian Basin and the Michigan Basin-Hudson Bay Lowland Province in the Midwest. The provincial assignment of the James Bay region of Ontario is uncertain; the Eastern Townships of Quebec are near the boundaries both of the two provinces of the Eastern Americas Realm, and of the Eastern Americas Realm and the Old World Realm, the latter realm being probably in the Canadian Maritime Provinces.     

Factors influencing the distributional abundance of two trophic guilds of Peruvian cricetid rodents

The distributional abundance of 13 species of southern Peruvian rodents is significantly correlated with altitude and patterns of vegetation but vegetation is a better predictor than altitude. Coincidental reversals in the altitudinal trends of both vegetation and rodents demonstrate that rodents are responding to vegetation patterns. Abundance and diversity of rodents are greatest around 4000 m elevation which coincides with the region of greatest vegetational abundance and seasonally heavy rainfall.
The rodent communities consist of two separate feeding guilds, omnivores and insectivores and these guilds show distinctly different distributional patterns. Insectivorous species are strongly associated with the zone of seasonally heavy rainfall (4000 m) whereas omnivorous rodents are relatively abundant over a broader spectrum of elevations and habitats. In a previous study of these same communities, we showed a correspondence between rodent morphology and their diets. This study reveals a correspondence between distributional abundance of the various species and their diets. We conclude that the distributional abundance of southern Peruvian rodents is related to the physiological constraints imposed by altitude (climate) and the distributional abundance of food resources.     

A phytosociological study of weed communities on the southwestern Coastal Plain of North Carolina

Summary The vegetation of cultivated, fallow and ‘old’ fields of Scotland County, N.C. was both randomly and subjectively sampled throughout the growing season of 1973. Relevés were placed in each of the above management units, and the data collected in this relevé analysis were sorted into phytosociological charts, with the aid of the digital computer. Weed associations delimited in the charts reflected the importance of edaphic factors, time (aspect), and man's agricultural activities as causal factors in the determination of characteristic assemblages of weeds. Several character and differential species were denoted, in a tentative classification of the weed associations. The cultivated and fallow stands in the spring aspect were noted to be dominated by a group of spring annuals. Summer annuals were more prevalent in homologous situations in the summer. It was determined that perennials, appearing mainly as seedlings in cultivated and fallow fields, attained dominance in ‘old’ fields, one to five years in age. Within each of the major spheres of management, and in each season, associations of weeds mainly reflected differences in edaphic factors. Many character species were noted to maintain affinities to an assortment of soil types that ranged from moist loams to xeric, sterile sands. A study of roadsides, hedgerows, field margins and other ecotonal areas inhabited by weeds was carried throughout the growing season of 1973, also. Species presence was documented in each of these habitat types and reported in Sharp (1974). The weed flora of Scotland County was found to be rich in species. A total of 506 species representing 248 genera and 80 families were encountered throughout the study. Of the total number of species listed, approximately 25 percent were of foreign origin, and 28 percent represented additions to the flora of Scotland County. This paper is the short version of a masters thesis for the Department of Botany, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The author would like to extend his appreciation and gratitude to Professors H. Lieth, A. E. Radford and J. Hardin for their generous advice and encouragement extended through the duration of the study.     

增施氮肥能够缓解麦田土壤线虫群落对O3浓度升高的响应

在辽宁沈阳农田生态系统国家野外科学观测研究站,利用运行2a的开顶式气室,研究了臭氧(O3)浓度升高和不同氮肥施用水平对土壤线虫群落的影响。结果表明:(1)O3浓度升高降低了成熟期小麦根生物量。O3浓度升高和不同氮肥施用水平的交互作用改变了小麦成熟期土壤微生物生物量碳、氮和水溶性有机碳的含量。低氮条件下,O3浓度升高降低了土壤微生物生物量碳、氮和水溶性有机碳的含量;而高氮条件下则表现出相反的趋势。(2)O3浓度升高和不同氮肥施用水平对土壤线虫总数没有产生显著影响,而在灌浆期,食细菌线虫和食真菌线虫中c-p值为4(Ba4 and Fu4)的功能团对O3浓度升高和不同氮肥施用水平的响应敏感;与对照相比,不同氮处理中,O3浓度升高均降低了灌浆期Ba4功能团线虫的数量。灌浆期,O3浓度升高条件下,与对照相比Fu4功能团线虫数量在高氮条件下表现出增加的趋势,而在低氮条件表现出降低的趋势。(3)O3浓度升高和不同氮肥施用水平的交互作用显著影响了小麦灌浆期线虫的成熟度指数(MI)和结构指数(SI)。与对照相比,线虫成熟度指数和结构指数在低氮条件下随O3浓度升高而降低;而在高氮条件下随O3浓度升高而升高。上述结果表明,氮肥的施用能够缓解O3浓度升高对土壤食物网的扰动。     

北京东灵山森林植物多样性的网络结构特征

一个群落可以看作是由物种相互连接的复杂系统,刻画其网络结构有助于深入揭示系统性质以及结构与功能之间的关系。在生态学中,复杂网络理论已被成功应用于食物网与互利网络的结构研究,但尚未检验其刻画生物多样性格局的能力。采用复杂网络理论研究了北京东灵山森林乔木层、灌木层、草本层植物关联关系的网络结构特征及其差异。结果表明,植物物种的共同出现是非随机的,并表现出一定的小世界模式;乔木层、灌木层、草本层植物共同出现的网络在结构特征上存在明显差异,草本层网络比乔木层和灌木层网络更松散且平均路径更长,灌木层和草本层网络的聚类系数高于乔木层且存在度的幂律分布。皆表明复杂网络理论具备反映不同层植物多样性格局差异的能力。     

三江平原农田地表和地下土壤螨类丰富度与环境因子的空间关联性

地表和地下土壤动物群落空间格局及其与环境因子的空间作用关系,是揭示地表-地下生态系统格局与过程及生物多样性维持机制的重要基础。于2011年在三江平原农田生态系统,在50m×50m的空间尺度内,基于地统计空间分析方法,揭示地表和地下土壤螨群落及不同螨类物种丰富度的空间格局,并分析这种空间格局与土壤含水量、土壤p H值及大豆株高空间格局的空间关联性。半方差函数和普通克里格插值表明,8月份地表、地下和10月份地下螨群落及这些群落内大部分螨类物种在特定空间尺度内形成集群,表现为空间异质性特征,且这种空间分异多由结构性因素或结构性因素和随机性因素共同调控。交叉方差函数表明,土壤螨群落和不同螨类物种的空间格局与环境因子的空间格局在多种尺度上表现出复杂的空间关联性(正的或负的)。但简单Mantel检验仅发现8月份地表中气门亚目未定种1(Mesostigmata unidentified sp.1)和大豆株高存在明显的正的空间关联性。研究结果表明地下螨群落和生长季节的地表螨群落具有明显的空间异质性结构,地表和地下螨群落及大多数螨类物种丰富度与土壤含水量、土壤p H值及大豆株高的空间关联性并不显著。促进地表-地下生态系统土壤动物群落空间格局研究,为地表-地下格局与过程研究奠定基础。     

矿山废水中微生物生态多样性研究

从湖北铜绿山铜矿和山西中条山铜矿两地采集了矿山废水样品, 用RFLP方法(限制性片段长度多态性方法)分析不同矿山废水中微生物多样性及其群落结构组成变化。结果发现：通过16S rDNA基因序列的系统发育树分析, 在5个矿山废水样品中检测到的细菌主要分为4大类：即Proteobacteria纲、Nitrospira纲、Firmicutes纲和Bacteroidetes纲。通过对古菌16S rDNA 的PCR分析发现, 取自湖北铜绿山铜矿的样品中检测到古菌的存在, 而取自山西中条山铜矿的样品中没有检测到古菌的存在。检测到的古菌主要是属于Ferroplasma属和Thermoplasma属。结合5个矿山废水样品的化学元素分析结果和细菌群落结构数据, 进行PCA分析(主成分分析), 发现不同矿山废水样品的生物地球化学性质及其微生物组成存在很大差异, pH值、温度、不同浓度的元素如S、Cu、Ni和Co可能是形成细菌种群结构差异的关键因素。     

水稻化感品种对土壤微生物的影响

通过盆栽实验研究三叶期水稻化感品种对土壤微生物种群数量的影响。结果显示,土壤细菌、放线菌、真菌、氨化细菌和好气性自生固氮菌数量在水稻化感品种P1312777和水稻非化感品种“辽粳九”、“秋光”的土壤中存在显著差异,土壤中大多数微生物被水稻化感品种所抑制,但化感品种土壤中的放线菌和好气性纤维素分解菌数量则介于两种非化感品种之间。这一研究表明,水稻化感品种能显著地影响土壤微生物种群数量。     

环境微生物群落功能研究的新方法和新策略

微生物群落在驱动生物地球化学循环中扮演着重要角色,传统的研究方法可对微生物群落进行遗传结构的解析,但不能有效地与功能研究耦联.概述了近年发展起来的基于核酸和蛋白质水平的分子生物学新方法--环境mRNA 和 rRNA同时荧光原位杂交(FISH)、寡核苷酸微阵列技术(Oligonucleotide Microarray)、 稳定性同位素联合宏基因组学(SIP-enabled Metagenomics)和环境蛋白质组学(Metaproteomics)在环境微生物群落功能研究中的应用,并且对其发展趋势进行了分析和展望.