Transparent communication strategy on GMOs: Will it change public opinion?

Innovations are central for the economic growth; however, the use of new technologies needs to be widely accepted in the general public and the society as a whole. Biotechnology in general, and the use of genetic engineering in food production in particular are seen critically by the European public and perceived as "risky", and a transatlantic divide between European and US citizens has been observed. This review investigates the reasons for those differing perceptions and proposes new strategies to communicate the benefits of biotechnology in agriculture to a broader public. When analyzing the dialogue process that has taken place between public, scientists, governmental organizations and industry, questions arise on what has been done differently in Europe, in order to propose new, more successful and efficient communication strategies for the future.     

石羊河下游盐渍化弃耕地植被演替与土壤养分相关性分析

以石羊河下游不同年代盐渍化弃耕地自然群落为对象,利用优势种群的消长和土壤养分的动态变化进行相关性分析,研究退耕地群落演替与土壤养分之间的动态变化以及相互关系。结果表明:1)植被类型一般经历3个阶段:田间杂草→荒漠草本→荒漠灌木,但群落演替可分为4个阶段:藜+田旋花群落(1～2年)→骆驼蒿群落(3～10年)→苏枸杞+黄毛头群落(10～40年)→黄毛头群落(顶极群落);2)土壤养分在整个植被演替过程中一般经历消耗-积累-消耗3个阶段,但速效钾不存在初期消耗阶段,演替后期土壤养分处于消耗状态,并逐渐接近本区域自然植被土壤养分;3)由于前期土壤养分处于消耗阶段,骆驼蒿种群对土壤养分的贡献不明显,其中与速效磷之间呈显著负相关,与速效钾呈显著正相关;苏枸杞种群与土壤养分呈正相关,其中与有机质、全氮、30～60cm速效钾相关性显著;而黄毛头种群与土壤养分之间呈显著负相关。黄毛头具有较强的适应性,可作为盐渍化弃耕地上的适宜引种物种,以调控和加速植物群落演替。     

贵州省普定县不同植被演替阶段的物种组成与群落结构特征

通过对贵州省普定县喀斯特地区不同植被演替阶段群落的调查, 研究了植被演替过程中群落物种组成和群落结构的变化。结果表明, 该地区的植被主要处于5个演替阶段, 即次生乔木林、乔灌过渡林、藤刺灌丛、稀灌草丛以及火烧干扰后的蕨类植物群落。本次调查共记录到植物365种, 隶属89科218属。其中, 蕨类植物31种, 隶属14科23属; 种子植物334种, 隶属75科195属。物种分布较多的科主要有蔷薇科、菊科、禾本科、百合科、忍冬科、唇形科、莎草科、樟科、葡萄科和水龙骨科。随着正向演替的推进, 物种丰富度增加, 群落结构趋于复杂化。藤刺灌丛与乔灌过渡林群落层次不明显, 次生乔木林分层明显。从藤刺灌丛向次生乔木林演替的过程中, 小径级个体所占比例明显降低, 高于1.3 m植物的总密度、乔木密度和藤本密度都先升高后降低, 而灌木密度呈逐渐降低的趋势。对喀斯特地区植被的恢复提出了参考措施。     

中国矿区土壤种子库研究的必要性与挑战

土壤种子库是土壤及其表面凋落物中所有具生命活力的种子,可反映区域特有的生物多样性特征,其多数存在于表层土壤.作为植被恢复生长的基础和潜在的绿化材料,表土和土壤种子库是矿区不可再生的有限资源.土壤种子库研究是我国矿区土地复垦与生态重建领域的热点之一.由于矿业生产的特殊性,矿区土壤种子库研究不能仅仅关注土壤种子库中种子类型、数量及其与地表植被相互关系等常规静态内容,还需要借鉴特殊生境下土壤种子库的研究成果,并结合矿区土地利用特征,在研究体系和思路上寻求突破.本文总结了矿区土壤种子库研究的特殊性及相关研究进展,综述了特殊生境下土壤种子库的研究进展及启示,并提出了我国矿区土壤种子库研究所面临的挑战,为强化我国矿区土壤种子库研究、提高我国矿区土地复垦中表土及土壤种子库利用效率、加快植被恢复进程提供参考.     

Signals of range expansions and contractions of vascular plants in the high Alps: observations (1994–2004) at the GLORIA* master site Schrankogel,Tyrol, Austria

High mountain ecosystems are defined by low temperatures and are therefore considered to react sensitively to climate warming. Responding to observed changes in plant species richness on high peaks of the European Alps, an extensive setup of 1 m × 1 m permanent plots was established at the alpine‐nival ecotone (between 2900 and 3450 m) on Mount Schrankogel, a GLORIA master site in the central Tyrolean Alps, Austria, in 1994. Recording was repeated in a representative selection of 362 quadrats in 2004. Ten years after the first recording, we observed an average change in vascular plant species richness from 11.4 to 12.7 species per plot, an increase of 11.8% (or of at least 10.6% at a 95% confidence level). The increase in species richness involved 23 species (about 43% of all taxa found at the ecotone), comprising both alpine and nival species and was pronouncedly higher in plots with subnival/nival vegetation than in plots with alpine grassland vegetation. Only three species showed a decrease in plot occupancy: one was an annual species, one was rare, and one a common nival plant that decreased in one part of the area but increased in the uppermost part. Species cover changed in relation to altitudinal preferences of species, showing significant declines of all subnival to nival plants, whereas alpine pioneer species increased in cover. Recent climate warming in the Alps, which has been twice as high as the global average, is considered to be the primary driver of the observed differential changes in species cover. Our results indicate an ongoing range contraction of subnival to nival species at their rear (i.e. lower) edge and a concurrent expansion of alpine pioneer species at their leading edge. Although this was expected from predictive distribution models and different temperature‐related habitat preferences of alpine and nival species, we provide first evidence on – most likely – warming‐induced species declines in the high European Alps. The projected acceleration of climate warming raises concerns that this phenomenon could become the major threat to biodiversity in high mountains.     

Use of digital webcam images to track spring green-up in a deciduous broadleaf forest

Understanding relationships between canopy structure and the seasonal dynamics of photosynthetic uptake of CO₂ by forest canopies requires improved knowledge of canopy phenology at eddy covariance flux tower sites. We investigated whether digital webcam images could be used to monitor the trajectory of spring green-up in a deciduous northern hardwood forest. A standard, commercially available webcam was mounted at the top of the eddy covariance tower at the Bartlett AmeriFlux site. Images were collected each day around midday. Red, green, and blue color channel brightness data for a 640 × 100-pixel region-of-interest were extracted from each image. We evaluated the green-up signal extracted from webcam images against changes in the fraction of incident photosynthetically active radiation that is absorbed by the canopy (f _APAR), a broadband normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and the light-saturated rate of canopy photosynthesis (A _max), inferred from eddy flux measurements. The relative brightness of the green channel (green %) was relatively stable through the winter months. A steady rising trend in green % began around day 120 and continued through day 160, at which point a stable plateau was reached. The relative brightness of the blue channel (blue %) also responded to spring green-up, although there was more day-to-day variation in the signal because blue % was more sensitive to changes in the quality (spectral distribution) of incident radiation. Seasonal changes in blue % were most similar to those in f _APAR and broadband NDVI, whereas changes in green % proceeded more slowly, and were drawn out over a longer period of time. Changes in A _max lagged green-up by at least a week. We conclude that webcams offer an inexpensive means by which phenological changes in the canopy state can be quantified. A network of cameras could offer a novel opportunity to implement a regional or national phenology monitoring program.     

Climate and vegetation in China II. Distribution of main vegetation types and thermal climate

The authors examined relationships between Kira's warmth index (WI) and four other important thermal indices: the sums of daily mean temperatures above 5°C and 10°C, Thornthwaite's potential evapotranspiration (PE) and Holdridge's annual biotemperature. The thermal records of 671 meteorological stations evenly located all over China were used to make these comparisons. Close correlations were found within the four relationships, and accordingly WI was used to analyse the thermal distributions of the main vegetation types. Vegetation types around the 671 stations were read from a vegetation map with a scale of 1/4000000. Vegetation types at 269 stations corresponded to the natural or seminatural vegetation, and 29 vegetation types were distinguished by arranging the 269 data into the same or similar types. The geographical distribution of these 29 types and the corresponding main climatic features were described. The relations between WI and distribution of these vegetation types were discussed in detail. As a result, WI values (°C month) corresponding to the vegetation zones could be summarized as follows: (1) arctic or alpine vegetation zone: 0–15; (2) boreal or subalpine vegetation zone: 15-(50–55); (3) cool-temperate vegetation zone: (50–55)–(80–90); (4) warm-temperate vegetation zone: (80–90)–(170–180). These values almost coincided with Kira's values. Chinese postgraduate student in Japan sent by the Chinese Government.     

Spatially modelling native vegetation condition

Summary   The assessment of vegetation condition is seen as an increasingly important requirement for effective biodiversity conservation in Australia. Condition assessments that operate at the scale of the site are well established. However, there is a need for mapped representations of vegetation condition at regional scales to: (i) assist with regional planning and target setting; (ii) provide regional context for site-based assessment; and (iii) monitor the change in vegetation condition at multiple scales. This paper describes a methodology for converting site condition data collected in plots into maps of vegetation condition across entire regions using a predictive statistical modelling framework (Generalized Additive Modelling) combined with a GIS. The research demonstrates how explanatory variables including topographic position, terrain roughness, landscape connectivity and remote sensing derived indices can be used to map the condition of native vegetation at the scale of a subcatchment. The inclusion of indices derived from remotely sensed imagery (SPOT4) as explanatory variables in the modelling is a novel component of this research. Although the methodology generates statistically and ecologically plausible models of vegetation condition, there are nevertheless limitations associated with the way plot data were collected and some of the explanatory variables, which impacts upon model utility. We discuss how these problems can be minimized when embarking upon studies of this type. We demonstrate how maps produced from exercises such as this could be used for conservation planning and discuss the limitations of these data for monitoring.     

Effects of grazing and topography on long-term vegetation changes in a Mediterranean ecosystem in Israel

The dynamics of Mediterranean vegetation over 28 years was studied in the Northern Galilee Mountains, Israel, in order to identify and quantify the major factors affecting it at the landscape scale. Image analysis of historical and current aerial photographs was used to produce high resolution digital vegetation maps (pixel size = 30 cm) for an area of 4 km² in the Galilee Mountains, northern Israel. GIS tools were used to produce corresponding maps of grazing regime, topographic indices and other relevant environmental factors. The effects of those factors were quantified using a multiple regression analyses. Major changes in the vegetation occurred during the period studied (1964–1992); tree cover increased from 2% in 1964 to 41% in 1992, while herbaceous vegetation cover decreased from 56% in 1964 to 24% in 1992. Grazing, topography and initial vegetation cover were found to significantly affect present vegetation patterns. Both cattle grazing and goat grazing reduced the rate of increase in tree cover, yet even intensive grazing did not halt the process. Grazing affected also the woody-herbaceous vegetation dynamics, reducing the expansion of woody vegetation. Slope, aspect, and the interaction term between these two factors, significantly affected vegetation pattern. Altogether, 56% and 72% of the variability in herbaceous and tree cover, respectively, was explained by the regression models. This study indicates that spatially explicit Mediterranean vegetation dynamics can be predicted with fair accuracy using few biologically important environmental variables.     

生态系统健康研究的一些基本问题探讨

目前有关生态系统健康研究的一些基本问题尚未达成共识。本文分析了健康、系统与生态系统3个与生态系统健康关联的概念,在此基础上,对生态系统健康的概念及其内涵、研究价值、研究的内容框架、研究的合理尺度以及生态系统质量诊断与质量等级评价进行了探讨。指出生态学上的生态系统是系统科学意义上系统的一类,整体性、稳定性和可持续性是生态系统的重要特征,生态系统健康可通过它的充分必要条件给出,即具备良好的整体性,能够维持较高的稳定性,并能实现良好的可持续性。生态系统质量标准分为质量诊断标准和质量等级评价标准,质量诊断是一种是与非的事实判断,而质量等级评价是一种价值判断。生态系统质量等级评价指标可分为限制可比型和非限制可比型两类。生态系统的复杂性决定了生态系统健康研究须借助于系统科学和非线性科学的理论与方法,生态系统病变的滞后性决定了生态系统健康研究必须加强生态系统质量预测与预警,而生态系统健康的跨学科性决定了生态系统健康研究需要生态学、环境学、医学、社会学以及经济学等领域研究人员的广泛合作。