Plant Effects on Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Nitrogen Cycling in Shortgrass Steppe

Because of the water-limited nature and discontinuous plant cover of shortgrass steppe, spatial patterns in ecosystem properties are influenced more by the presence or absence of plants than by plant type. However, plant type may influence temporal patterns of nutrient cycling between plant and soil. Plants having the carbon-3 (C₃) or carbon-4 (C₄) photosynthetic pathway differ in phenology as well as other attributes that affect nitrogen (N) cycling. We estimated net N mineralization rates and traced nitrogen-15 (¹⁵N) additions among plant and soil components during May, July, and September of 1995 in native plots of C₃ plants, C₄ plants, or mixtures of C₃ and C₄. Net N mineralization was significantly greater in C₃ plots than in C₄ plots during both July and September. C₃ plots retained significantly more ¹⁵N in May than did mixed and C₄ plots; these differences in ¹⁵N retention were due to greater ¹⁵N uptake by C₃ plants than by C₄ plants during May. There were no significant differences in total ¹⁵N retention among plant communities for July and September. Soil ¹⁵N was influenced more by presence or absence of plants than by type of plant; greater quantities of ¹⁵N remained in soil interspaces between plants than in soil directly under plants for July and September. Our results indicate that plant functional type (C₃ versus C₄) can affect both the spatial and the temporal patterns of N cycling in shortgrass steppe. Further research is necessary to determine how these intraseasonal differences translate to longer-term and coarser-scale effects of plants on N cycling, retention, and storage. Received 8 December 1997; accepted 6 May 1998.     

Rapid and effective detection of anthrax spores in soil by PCR

AIMS: To detect Bacillus anthracis DNA from soil using rapid and simple procedures. METHODS AND RESULTS: Various amounts of B. anthracis Pasteur II spores were added artificially to 1 g of soil, which was then washed with ethanol and sterile water. Enrichment of the samples in trypticase soy broth was performed twice. A DNA template was prepared from the second enrichment culture using a FastPrep instrument. The template was then used for nested and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with B. anthracis-specific primers, to confirm the presence of B. anthracis chromosomal DNA and the pXO1/pXO2 plasmids. CONCLUSIONS: One cell of B. anthracis in 1 g of soil could be detected by nested and real-time PCR. The usefulness of the PCR method using field samples was also confirmed. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The results indicate that this could be a useful method for detecting anthrax-spore contaminated soil with high sensitivity. Its application could have great impact on the progress of epidemiological surveillance.     

不同人为干扰措施对天然次生灌丛土壤肥力及蓄水能力的影响

亚热带常绿阔叶林遭反复干扰后退化形成的天然次生灌丛在未管护模式下难以恢复为乔木林。在浙江省临安市选择典型天然次生灌丛,以强度人为干扰为对照、分别进行保护性干扰和适度人为干扰,探讨灌丛土壤蓄水能力和肥力质量的响应。4年试验结果表明:与强度人为干扰相比,保护性干扰和适度人为干扰后的土壤总贮水量、吸持贮水量和滞留贮水量分别提高了12.41%、5.33%、17.37%和29.13%、33.23%和26.24%;最大持水量、毛管持水量和最小持水量分别提高了23.35%、9.51%、17.55%和48.63%、56.08和71.05%;与强度人为干扰相比,保护性干扰和适度人为干扰的综合肥力分别提高了1.9%和38.5%,其中保护性干扰的水解氮、有机碳和有机质含量提高了12.11%、38.91%和38.94%,适度人为干扰的水解氮、有效磷、有机碳和有机质含量提高了61.97%、90.57%、130%和130.04%,保护性干扰和适度人为干扰的土壤综合评价指数分别提高了15.43%和58.94%。研究表明,与保护性干扰相比,适度人为干扰在土壤的蓄水保水、肥力和固碳增汇等方面更能达到预期的目标。在有条件经营的情况下,可以选择适度人为干扰措施对天然次生灌丛进行管理从而达到加快土壤恢复的目的。     

凹凸棒土添加对土壤蒸发及裂缝特征的影响

水分是限制干旱与半干旱地区植被恢复和农业发展的最重要因素之一,减少土壤水分无效蒸发损失可提高水分利用效率。凹凸棒土(ATP)作为一种黏土矿物,其亲水性和吸附性对限制土壤蒸发具有重要作用。本研究选取黄土高原干旱与半干旱区3种不同质地的典型土壤(黑垆土、黄绵土、风沙土),设置5种ATP添加量(0%、1%、2%、3%、4%),使用微型蒸发器在自然条件下进行土壤蒸发试验,探究ATP添加对不同土壤蒸发过程和蒸发面裂缝特征的影响。结果表明: 当ATP添加量<3%时,在同一种土壤下累积蒸发量与蒸发损失率随ATP添加量的增加而减小;ATP添加量为3%时,黑垆土、风沙土的累积蒸发量和蒸发损失率均减小,黄绵土的累积蒸发量和蒸发损失率增加;ATP添加量为4%时,黑垆土的累积蒸发量减小、蒸发损失率增加,风沙土的累积蒸发量增加、蒸发损失率减小,黄绵土的累积蒸发量和蒸发损失率均减小。不同土壤平均累积蒸发量表现为:黑垆土>黄绵土>风沙土。在同一种土壤的整个蒸发过程中,施加ATP处理的土壤含水量始终高于对照。累积蒸发量与时间平方根关系的模拟结果表明,蒸发结束时ATP处理下土壤样品可以释放的水量高于对照。添加ATP后黑垆土和黄绵土的裂缝面密度显著增加,风沙土裂缝面密度随ATP添加量的增加而增加,3种土壤的裂缝面密度在ATP添加量为4%时均达到最大值。ATP添加量为3%时可以在最大程度上减少土壤水分无效蒸发。     

Parameters Effects Evaluation of Microbial Strengthening of Sandy Soils in Mixing Experiments Using Taguchi Methodology

The effects of experimental parameters including soil type, curing duration, inoculum size, and biomass and nutrients concentration on soil strengthening due to calcite precipitation by Sporosarcina pasteurii PTCC 1645 were investigated. The laboratory-scale mixing experiments on remolded samples were designed by the Taguchi method. Soil type proved to be the most incorporating factor, followed by curing time and nutrient concentration. The main effect and the interactions of the parameters were presented and the optimal conditions were obtained. This suggests the importance of local conditions including soil type on any future large-scale, in situ application.     

基于物种多样性与生物量关系的草地群落稳定性对全球变暖的响应研究进展

全球变暖背景下物种多样性和生物量的空间变化格局及其对温度升高的响应是生态学研究的热点内容,是探究群落稳定性响应全球变暖的关键.物种分布是多个生态过程相互作用的产物,温度升高通过改变群落关键种的作用影响物种多样性,从而改变群落稳定性.关于草地群落稳定性对全球变暖的响应过程,国内外学者的相关研究存在很大差异.该文作者结合自...     

毛乌素沙地南缘沙漠化临界区域土壤养分的空间异质性

毛乌素沙地南缘沙漠化临界区域是沙地-草地景观界面的关键部位,研究该区域土壤养分的空间格局和生态学过程,对于土地沙漠化的机理研究具有重要的意义。采用经典统计与地统计学相结合的方法,通过半变异函数及其模型、克里格局部插值估计、空间分布图等研究了毛乌素沙地南缘沙漠化临界区域土壤养分的空间异质性特征。结果表明:研究区土壤速效钾含量符合球状模型,全氮和速效磷含量符合指数模型;速效钾含量具有强空间自相关性,其结构方差比为0.882,而全氮和速效磷含量表现为中等程度的空间自相关性,其结构方差比分别为0.501和0.514;3种土壤养分空间自相关距离存在差异,其中全氮和速效钾的变程均为511m,而速效磷的变程为143m;3种土壤养分的分布格局呈现明显的空间规律性,从牛枝子群落到黑沙蒿群落,速效钾和速效磷含量先降低后升高,与研究区的界面变化过程一致,而全氮含量逐渐降低,与研究区的植被覆盖度变化一致;3种土壤养分的标准差都较小,Kriging插值结果比较可靠。     

Measurement of Greenhouse Gas Flux from Agricultural Soils Using Static Chambers

Measurement of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes between the soil and the atmosphere, in both managed and unmanaged ecosystems, is critical to understanding the biogeochemical drivers of climate change and to the development and evaluation of GHG mitigation strategies based on modulation of landscape management practices. The static chamber-based method described here is based on trapping gases emitted from the soil surface within a chamber and collecting samples from the chamber headspace at regular intervals for analysis by gas chromatography. Change in gas concentration over time is used to calculate flux. This method can be utilized to measure landscape-based flux of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, and to estimate differences between treatments or explore system dynamics over seasons or years. Infrastructure requirements are modest, but a comprehensive experimental design is essential. This method is easily deployed in the field, conforms to established guidelines, and produces data suitable to large-scale GHG emissions studies.     

广西石山人工林灌草多样性与环境因子的关系

以广西石山人工林群落调查数据为材料,采用双向指示种分类(TWINSPAN)、冗余分析(RDA)和典范对应分析(CCA)研究了9个生境变量、1林分类型因子与石山人工林多样性、草本和灌木植物组成的关系。结果表明,坡位是影响石山人工林物种组成多样性的最主要因子,露石率和坡度对石山人工林林下有害物种分布影响最大。石山人工林林下植被组成的主要决定因素是生境因子(解释率23%~55%),而树种选择是次要因素(解释率11%~17%)。石山梯地人工林的有害草本种类多于坡地,梯地的有害灌木种类少于坡地。石山人工林的有害植物种类少于封山育林地。