Arthropod Diversity and Community Structure in Relation to Land Use in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Declining biodiversity in agro-ecosystems, caused by intensification of production or expansion of monocultures, is associated with the emergence of agricultural pests. Understanding how land-use and management control crop-associated biodiversity is, therefore, one of the key steps towards the prediction and maintenance of natural pest-control. Here we report on relationships between land-use variables and arthropod community attributes (for example, species diversity, abundance and guild structure) across a diversification gradient in a rice-dominated landscape in the Mekong delta, Vietnam. We show that rice habitats contained the most diverse arthropod communities, compared with other uncultivated and cultivated land-use types. In addition, arthropod species density and Simpson’s diversity in flower, vegetable and fruit habitats was positively related to rice cover in the local landscape. However, across the landscape as a whole, reduction in heterogeneity and the amount of uncultivated cover was associated, generally, with a loss of diversity. Furthermore, arthropod species density in tillering and flowering stages of rice was positively related to crop and vegetation richness, respectively, in the local landscape. Differential effects on feeding guilds were also observed in rice-associated communities with the proportional abundance of predators increasing and the proportional abundance of detritivores decreasing with increased landscape rice cover. Thus, we identify a range of rather complex, sometimes contradictory patterns concerning the impact of rice cover and landscape heterogeneity on arthropod community attributes. Importantly, we conclude that that land-use change associated with expansion of monoculture rice need not automatically impact diversity and functioning of the arthropod community.     

Patterns of species richness for vascular plants in China's nature reserves

Explaining the heterogeneous distribution of biodiversity across the Earth has long been a challenge to ecologists and biogeographers. Here, we document the patterns of plant species richness for different taxonomic groups in China's nature reserves, and discuss their possible explanations at national and regional scales, using vascular plant richness data coupled with information on climate and topographical variables. We found that water deficit, energy and elevation range (a surrogate of habitat heterogeneity) represent the primary explanations for variation in plant species richness of the nature reserves across China. There are consistent relationships between species richness and climate and habitat heterogeneity for different taxonomic vascular plant groups at the national scale. Habitat heterogeneity is strongly associated with plant richness in all regions, whereas climatic constraints to plant diversity vary regionally. In the regions where energy is abundant or water is scarce, plant richness patterns were determined by water and habitat heterogeneity, whereas in the region with low energy inputs, water interacting with energy, and habitat heterogeneity determined its species richness pattern. Our results also suggest that energy variables alone do not represent the primary predictor of plant richness.     

Diurnal fluctuations in seawater pH influence the response of a calcifying macroalga to ocean acidification

Coastal ecosystems that are characterized by kelp forests encounter daily pH fluctuations, driven by photosynthesis and respiration, which are larger than pH changes owing to ocean acidification (OA) projected for surface ocean waters by 2100. We investigated whether mimicry of biologically mediated diurnal shifts in pH—based for the first time on pH time-series measurements within a kelp forest—would offset or amplify the negative effects of OA on calcifiers. In a 40-day laboratory experiment, the calcifying coralline macroalga, Arthrocardia corymbosa, was exposed to two mean pH treatments (8.05 or 7.65). For each mean, two experimental pH manipulations were applied. In one treatment, pH was held constant. In the second treatment, pH was manipulated around the mean (as a step-function), 0.4 pH units higher during daylight and 0.4 units lower during darkness to approximate diurnal fluctuations in a kelp forest. In all cases, growth rates were lower at a reduced mean pH, and fluctuations in pH acted additively to further reduce growth. Photosynthesis, recruitment and elemental composition did not change with pH, but δ¹³C increased at lower mean pH. Including environmental heterogeneity in experimental design will assist with a more accurate assessment of the responses of calcifiers to OA.     

Marine reserves: size and age do matter

Marine reserves are widely used throughout the world to prevent overfishing and conserve biodiversity, but uncertainties remain about their optimal design. The effects of marine reserves are heterogeneous. Despite theoretical findings, empirical studies have previously found no effect of size on the effectiveness of marine reserves in protecting commercial fish stocks. Using 58 datasets from 19 European marine reserves, we show that reserve size and age do matter: Increasing the size of the no-take zone increases the density of commercial fishes within the reserve compared with outside; whereas the size of the buffer zone has the opposite effect. Moreover, positive effects of marine reserve on commercial fish species and species richness are linked to the time elapsed since the establishment of the protection scheme. The reserve size-dependency of the response to protection has strong implications for the spatial management of coastal areas because marine reserves are used for spatial zoning.     

Fine-scale adaptation in a clonal sea anemone

Local adaptation in response to fine-scale spatial heterogeneity is well documented in terrestrial ecosystems. In contrast, in marine environments local adaptation has rarely been documented or rigorously explored. This may reflect real or anticipated effects of genetic homogenization, resulting from widespread dispersal in the sea. However, evolutionary theory predicts that for the many benthic species with complex life histories that include both sexual and asexual phases, each parental habitat patch should become dominated by the fittest and most competitive clones. In this study we used genotypic mapping to show that within headlands, clones of the sea anemone Actinia tenebrosa show restricted distributions to specific habitats despite the potential for more widespread dispersal. On these same shores we used reciprocal transplant experiments that revealed strikingly better performance of clones within their natal rather than foreign habitats as judged by survivorship, asexual fecundity, and growth. These findings highlight the importance of selection for fine-scale environmental adaptation in marine taxa and imply that the genotypic structure of populations reflects extensive periods of interclonal competition and site-specific selection.     

油松天然群体的种实性状表型多样性研究

为了揭示油松天然种群在不同地理环境条件下表型变异的程度和规律,在油松整个天然分布范围内选择了12个具有代表性的居群作为研究对象,对其球果、种子、种翅等12个种实性状的变异程度及其与环境因子间关系进行了比较分析。结果显示:(1)各个性状在居群内和居群间均存在较大的变异(CV>12%)。其中千山(QS),曾家镇(ZJ)和互助(HZ)3个居群表现出了较高的变异(CV>20%),而球果干重(CDW)和种子长(CL)是所有表型性状中变异幅度最大的(CV分别为31%和21%),但种翅性状与其他性状相比具有较高的稳定性。(2)巢式设计方差分析表明,在居群内表型分化系数(Vst)变化在3.18%~89.86%之间,而群体间的Vst为38.97%;与其他针叶树种相比,油松拥有较高的表型分化系数,且居群内的变异程度远高于居群间的变异,尤其是千山(QS)、曾家镇(ZJ)和互助(HZ)3个居群,这说明油松具有较高的环境异质性适应能力或恶劣环境耐受能力。(3)相关性分析表明,该研究的各形态特征与潜在蒸发量均为负相关,且大部分形态指标间及它们与潜在蒸发量间存在显著相关性,表明潜在蒸发量是油松形态特征变化的最重要环境影响因子,预示油松最适宜生长于温暖潮湿的环境中;并表明因各形态特征间相互紧密关联,所以它们受环境条件影响而共变。     

Simultaneous detection of spin-coupled and decoupled QA– EPR-signals in Photosystem II complexes isolated with isoelectric focusing

The Photosystem II multisubunit protein complex can be extracted from thylakoid membranes with non-ionic detergents and subjected to various spectroscopical and biochemical investigations. This paper shows that after extraction with dodecyl--D-maltoside, several Photosystem II complexes could be resolved by isoelectric focusing. Structurally, the various Photosystem II complexes differed from each other in polypeptide composition, especially with regard to the chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins, which gave rise to differing isoelectric points. Functionally, the various Photosystem II complexes differed from each other on the acceptor side, as judged by acceptor side-dependent electron transfer and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The Q_A ^- Fe2+-signal (g = 1.84), arising from Q_A ^- spin-coupled to the acceptor-side iron, and a radical signal arising from decoupled Q_A ^- (g = 2.0045) could be detected simultaneously in some of the Photosystem II complexes, and the amount of each of the two signals were inversely related. The results are discussed in relation to previously known heterogeneities in Photosystem II.     

Beaver dams maintain fish biodiversity by increasing habitat heterogeneity throughout a low‐gradient stream network

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